Born Of The Moon
by Elemental Angel
Summary: *Final Chapter* Hitomi's been anything but overly joyed since her second return to Gaea. With everything crashing down on her, what will she do when what she feared the most happens? R
1. Party The Night Away

Born of the Moon

Chapter One

Party the Night Away  
  


**What you need to know is that Folken isn't dead. That's all. ^^**  
  
  
  


I hadn't had that much fun in years! It had been my 19th birthday party the night before and the celebration has progressed well into the morning hours, but what fun! Yuki-chan had surprised me with a party at the new dance club downtown; the one I had been wanting to go to for weeks before my birthday. She had reserved it for the entire night and had invited all my friends, including good ones from elementary that I had lost touch with. It felt so good to reconnect with my old friends, and they all agreed that the food was marvelous. Of course, no nineteen-year-old's party would be complete without the suppliance of a wonderful thing called alcohol. Now that I think about it, I lost track of how many I shot back around the time that the music was started. We danced the hours away and the next thing I knew, I was in my room, laying down and feeling very relaxed while the clock read three thirty in the afternoon. I could see Amano and Yukari twisted in each other's arms on the couch and figured that he must've driven us back to my place. Only when I tried to get up did I notice that someone was holding onto me by the waist. My heartbeat raised and I looked back over to Yukari, whose eyes were now open and watching me. 

"Morning . . ." her voice was much deeper than usual. We must've been asleep for longer than I thought. 

"More like afternoon . . ." I whispered, smiling. "Who's got their arms around me?"

A grin spread across her face instantly. "Don't worry. It's just Bryce."  
  


Bryce . . . he was my elementary school sweetheart. I hadn't seen him since grade eight graduation. Not I'm suddenly in my bed with him . . . 

My eyes had to of widened because Yukari began to giggle. When she was finally able to unwind herself from Amano's arms, she stood up and motioned for me to follow her. I didn't look back.   
  


"He was hitting on you so badly! It was hilarious!"

I could feel myself blushing madly. Apparently after the drinks had been passed around a few times, Bryce had come clean about still liking me all throughout highschool, even though we were at different schools. He couldn't get his mind off of me when other girls began to hit on him, and that the only girl he ever wanted to be with was me. It just took losing me for him to realize it. How Yukari remembered this was far beyond me. She had more to drink than myself, but she always seemed to remember more from parties with alcohol involved than I ever did. 

"He was all over you! I've never seen such a strong willpower. He's really cute you know. Why didn't you kiss him at least? Just once?"

It was true that I had never told Yukari about my whole episode on Gaea. I always planned to, but I couldn't find the strength in myself to repeat it all orally. Since then, I've been typing it out, one experience by another. Presently, I'm almost at the end of the Destiny war, so Yukari will be able to read it very soon. 

"Because I guess my common sense was still kicked in and it was telling me not to do anything. Who knows."

"Good morning ladies!" Amano came into the room, stretching like a cat. "Some party you had planned out there, Yuki. Thanks for inviting me."

"Well, you've known Hitomi since kindergarten." She smiled widely. "Though considering it's almost four, we'd better get going." Amano agreed as well. 

I saw them off, making sure they had all of their things, and thanking Yukari one last time for the fantastic party. 

"You're the best friend ever." I said, hugging her. 

"Hey, it wasn't like I was gonna let you get by that easily. Besides, you only turn nineteen once you know!"

I watched as her and Amano walked down the three flights of stairs to the foyer. It was a good thing that I knew everyone in my apartment building, either way I'd still be walking around in my hung-over state. I could only imagine how horrible I looked. I just felt better knowing that no one would really care if they saw me like this. 

"See you two later!"  
  


I returned to my apartment in a cheerless mood, amazingly. Like I had made clear, the party was a blast, but I couldn't help but feel that I was missing something. 

I found myself seated in the kitchen at my desktop. I was in a writing mood suddenly and I wasn't about to let the inspiration go to waste. 

I ended falling asleep again because a warm hand on my shoulder woke me to a face full of keyboard keys. 

"Urg . . ." I shifted to face the person, and found them to be Bryce. I had totally forgotten about him. "B-Bryce! Oh God, I'm so sorry I forgot you were here! Um, do you want something to drink? To eat?- Are you hungry?"

He laughed at me, smiling and showing the grin that had matured from the last time I had seen it.

"What's so funny?"

"Just that you sound really nervous for some reason. You weren't nervous at all last night . . ."

I sighed loudly and I knew that he could tell that I was slightly annoyed with is presence. 

"Maybe if I remembered anything from last night, I'd be able to give a sarcastic answer to that." 

"C'mon . . ." He surprised me by hugging me, pressing himself up to me quite closely. 

"Bryce, let me go right now."

"Hitomi . . ." I could feel his hands slowly inching up my T-shirt. 

"I'm only going to warn you once." There wasn't any hesitation on his part. "Dammit, Bryce!" I yelled, kneeing him between the legs rather hardly. He yelped, immediately clutching his 'package'. Hastily, I grabbed the coat I didn't recognize that was laying in the corner and pulled him by the arm, dragging him until he was outside my doorframe. As he moaned in a most certain pain, I threw his coat over him and didn't give him a second glance before slamming the door and locking it.   
  


I headed for the bathroom to look myself over right after locking every lock I had on my door. My hair was handing in a mess of knots down to my jaw line and my eyes were bloodshot with dark bags from lack of sleep underneath them. With a pounding headache on top of that, I would've considered this an average hangover. 

Retreating back to my room, I fell gracefully to my awaiting bed. As I woke up again at seven thirty, I decided to go out for sushi at the sushi bar across the street. After taking a quick shower, picking out some new clothes to wear and basically making myself presentable to the public, I was out the door with another year of my life gone, and my heart aching with an undeniable pain.   
  


~*~

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	2. Birthday Blues

Born of the Moon

Chapter Two

Birthday Blues

  
  
  
  
  
  


The sushi bar was free of people, except for a few lingering at a single table. Surprising, seeing as the place was usually crawling with people and you'd have to shove your way through them just to sit down. Yuhan, the waiter who came around asking people if they wanted a drink, came to assist me as usual. 

"Hey there, Hitomi. Looking good. Will it be something with caffeine or aspartame today?"

"Huh?" I wasn't in the mood for his little word game at the current time. 

"Heh, I'll take that as a coffee, double milk with half a teaspoon of sugar?"

I smiled and nodded. "Yes please."

He was back in about two minutes with my drink. Placing it in front of me, he sat down on the opposite chair, sighing. 

"Working hard?" I asked, fingering the rim of my mug. 

"Only you would consider this hard. The rush today was at around five thirty. I think it's because that new movie theater is opening downtown tonight at around, hmm-" he glanced at his watch, "About right now. I expect the shortest movie to be about an hour and a half. Maybe business'll pick back up around nine-thirty or ten." I hadn't payed attention to any word he had said, really. His eyes reminded me too much of a certain king's. 

"Hey, what's wrong? You looked really bummed." He said, removing his black bandanna to reveal his short, dark brown hair. Too bad it wasn't black . . .

"Oh, uhm . . . well it's nothing really." I stopped my sentence short, taking a sip of my coffee. Boy was it ever refreshing.

"Ok, so I've known you, what, since the age of fifteen? I think I can tell when something's wrong. Where's the usual gang?" He leaned forward, resting his chin on his hands. Those eyes . . . 

"My party lasted long into the morning. It's just a hangover, don't worry about it."

A smile crept up the right side of his face and he raised an eyebrow. "I've seen you plenty of times while having a hangover and you've never seemed this out of it before."

I could tell he was amused by the scrunched up look on my face. After taking a long sip of my coffee and staring lazily at him, I decide to explain myself. 

"The one person I expected the most in life from and the one man I didn't expect to forget my birthday did just that. He let me down very badly. I don't know if I'll ever be able to forgive him." I drowned myself in more of my coffee. The next time I looked up to see Yuhan, instead I saw him heading towards the kitchen. He returned moments later with a piece of chocolate cake which had a single emerald candle lit right in the middle. After placing it in front of me, he gave me a kiss on my head and sat down again. 

"Happy birthday, one day late." He paused. "Well? Blow out your candle girl, you've got a wish awaiting you."

I couldn't help but laugh at him. "I wasn't referring to you when I said that, baka. Someone else who knows me much better. Not saying that you don't know me well . . .I didn't expect this."

He took the moment to stand up and grab the rim of the plate. "Well I guess I could take it back . . ."

"No, no! Really, it's okay!" I took a hold of his hands and rested the plate back down on the table. "I could use some sugar to wake me up."

He grinned and retook his seat. He began to question me as I shoveled in my cake. "So, tell me more about this guy. Can I kick his ass for you?"

I choked on a fork-full of cake as he said that. He was so much like a brother it was hilarious. "No, no," I wiped off my mouth with my napkin. "I thought he loved me and I knew that I loved him back, but now I'm just not so sure."

  
  


Yuhan and I continued to talk for another hour, and just as he had predicted, the crowds began to return. After saying goodbye, I decided to finish up writing my story about Gaea and drop it off at Yukari. She'd probably be finished it in no time flat seeing as she was the fastest reader I know. 

  
  


"Hey, Hitomi. How are you feeling? You sounded really sad on the phone." I had called Yukari asking her to meet me at the park that was exactly halfway from each of our apartments. 

"I asked you to come here so I could give you something." I handed her the large folder which contained the five hundred page long story. "Remember those few days that I was missing?" 

Her eyes toned down from their usual happy glow. She could probably tell from my deep tone of voice that something was wrong. "Yes, I remember. What's this all about? What's in this folder?"

I forced a smile onto my face. "It's a story I'd like you to read and finish as soon as possible." Without another word I left silently, tears silently rolling down my cheeks. 

  
  
  
  


That night I tried to contact Van but he just wouldn't answer. I was becoming angry with him. It was like he was trying to avoid me. Didn't he know how much he was hurting me by doing so? I needed to see Van again. I had to find out his reasons for suddenly excluding me from his life. I needed answers, and quickly. This had been going on for a good three months now and I was becoming fed up. 

"Why Van?!" I suddenly spoke out loud, scaring myself. The screaming sound of the phone ringing didn't do anything more to calm my nerves. Glancing over to my digital clock, the red block numbers read two forty-seven A.M.. Who would call this early? A telemarketer? "What?!" I yelled into the receiver. The person on the other end had better of had something damn well good to talk about or else I probably would've exploded in a fit or rage right on their heads. 

"I can't believe how well written your story is, Hitomi. You should get this published."

I took a few very deep breaths to calm my anger before continuing. "My story, eh Yuki?" I began to pace the length of my room while talking. "Those few days that I was gone, that's what happened to me. All of it. I didn't leave out a single detail."

I could hear her giggle at the other end. "Right, Hitomi! And I'm really an alien! This is an awesome story though. It could be something big."

"Yukari! Listen to me!" If I didn't have her full attention after calling her by her full name, I would've surely hung up on her and given up in the snap of a finger. "Remember that time in tenth grade when no one believed that you hadn't cheated on your final exam in history and only I did? This is one of those times where you've got to believe me, accept this is about one hundred times larger in importance!" Without knowing it, I had grabbed a large duffel bag and was furiously throwing essentials inside of it. "Do you believe me or not?"

"H-Hitomi . . . all this stuff, it's just . . ."

"Impossible to believe? Yes I know that Yuki but you know what, as your best friend I really need you to trust me on this one. I need you to be behind me on this."

"Hitomi, I-"

"Fine then!" I exclaimed hatefully at her. "If you don't want to believe your best friend when she asks you to when she knows for sure that no one else will, fine! Have a nice life without me!" I slammed the phone receiver down onto the panel and finished packing. Not much was left to do when your best friend didn't believe in you. I know that it was much to ask, but she surely could've humored me at least. Grabbing the last of my money, I locked the door to my apartment and started walking down the stairs to the foyer. 

I must've stared at the clear glass door for about ten minutes. I also happened to not notice that Yuhan was watching me from across the street. His shift usually ends at around one thirty but he sticks around until about two to help cleaning up. My mind was somewhere else and I, and I still hadn't seen him as I flung the door open hitting him right in the face.

"Umph!" I was too late in pulling back the door handle so that it wouldn't hit him but since my mind had been wandering, I wasn't that swift to react. 

"Yuhan!" I couldn't believe that I hadn't seen him. Blushing with embarrassment, I offered him a hand up. "I'm so sorry. I didn't see you."

"Obviously not." He laughed as he raised to his feet. "Where are you headed this early?"

"Hitomi!" A female voice called to me from down the street. Yuhan had to of seen me cringe. "Where the hell are you going? What are you doing?!" I saw the folder in her hands. Grabbing it from her, I shoved it into Yuhan's chest and began to run.

"Hitomi, wait!"

"Dammit, Yukari!" I spun on my heels, tears running down my cheeks again. "You know I could also ask you what the hell you're doing out here this early but I could care less! Why can't you just understand? Just this once why can't you believe me?!"

"Because it's impossible to believe! You think that if I were to tell you that I traveled to another world, met a king and saved a world from a war, would you believe me?! I don't think so!" She equally yelled back at me. 

"Well you know what, even if I didn't believe you at least I'd make an attempt to understand if you asked me to!"

Yuhan was standing in between us, totally awe struck. Completely lost, obviously. 

"You know what," a new feeling of basically nothing at all came over me. Who cares what anyone thought, especially her, the one person I confided in up to this point. "If you don't want to believe me, fine. I just don't care anymore. I don't have to deal with this anymore. I'm leaving."

Raising my bag higher on my shoulder, I started on my way to the train station. 

"Hitomi, where are you going?" Yuhan asked innocently. 

"I'm going back to Tokyo." I looked up to the moon which was still shining brightly in the night sky. "Back to the place where this all started."

  
  
  
  


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	3. Views In Mirrors

Born Of The Moon

Chapter III

Views In Mirrors

  
  
  
  
  
  


"One transfer ticket to Tokyo please."

At this point, I didn't care how costly a ticket from the Sendai station straight to the Tokyo station was- all I cared about was getting away from my world and back to the other I knew about. Earth no longer seemed to be my home. The more I thought about it, the more I knew that I truly belonged on Gaea. If not forever, at least getting away for even a while would do me some good. 

"Hitomi! Wait up!"

I turned to see Yuhan running towards me holding a fan of cash in his hand. "Give me a one way ticket to Tokyo please." He declared to the woman behind the counter. My eyes went wide. 

"Yuhan! What do you think you're doing?! Why did you follow me?!"

"Hey calm down," he whispered, trying to hush my frantic yelling. "I was going to visit family in Tokyo tomorrow but if I go with you now, I won't have to ride alone." His sweet smile calmed my temper. 

"Fine." I also noticed the folder under his arm. "You still have the folder . . . what did Yuki say after I left?"

"Oh, she was pretty pissed off . . ." His eyes went to the floor and he smiled again. "So I told her to get a life and to believe whatever it was you wanted her to believe and-" 

"Yuhan!"

"Your tickets, sir and miss." The woman placed our tickets in front of us with an annoyed look on her face. I grabbed mine and began to walk away from Yuhan. 

"Hitomi!"

  
  


We had about twenty minutes before our train left so I had some extra time to buy myself some food for the four-hour ride to Tokyo. 

"So, what's inside this folder anyway?" He asked me as I paid for my food. 

"Why don't you take a look for yourself?"

I watched him slowly untie the seal and pull out the large packet of paper within. 

"It's a story. Well, it looks like this'll keep me occupied for a good fraction of the ride."

  
  


After we finally got into the subway, Yuhan was already done a quarter of the adventure. I decided to sit across from him to view the wide variety of facial expressions he was displaying. Anger one moment, joy the next, then sorrow. I enjoyed my food while being entertained. 

As the first hour dragged on, I could tell by his overall serious expression that he had entered the war section. Yawning, I took a glance at my watch. It was five in the morning and the sun was just beginning to illuminate the dark sky with shades of pink and red. Yawning deeply once more, I realized how tired I was. For about five minutes, I struggled to seat myself comfortably to take a nap. Giving up, I crossed over to Yuhan who was deeply submerged in my writing. I clung onto his arm and used his shoulder as a pillow. 

"Uhm . . . Hitomi?" I could see him reddening above me. 

"Be my pillow please?" I asked in the most innocent and sweetest voice I could muster. His smile returned. 

"Sure."

  
  


/* As I opened my eyes once more, I found myself enveloped in a warm black blanket. Sighing, I pulled it closer. It felt like warm velvet against my skin. A single candle was lit across the room I was laying in and it cast off very little light. The room itself smelt of a mixture of burnt stove and a dewy forest. It calmed me so. I was expecting to fall back into my dream world and second. 

"Hitomi . . ." A low voice echoed throughout the room. I became slightly more alert, but the voice was so soothing. It sounded a lot like Yuhan. 

"Yuhan, is that you?" Both my and his voices sounded like they would in a dreamer's room-- soft and echoing. 

"No, Hitomi. I'm not the man you call Yuhan. Look for me . . ."

Sitting myself up, I glanced around the room. It was pretty dark but I could make out a mirror just next to the candle. It was a full length mirror with a decorative silver frame around it. As I stepped in front of it with the black velvet sheet still clinging onto me, I saw someone come up behind me. I closed my eyes and waited for him to come closer. I soon felt one hand on my shoulder and one around my waist. My eyes slowly opened to see the man who was holding me. His touch was familiar somehow. His dark eyes were staring intently at me as I let their subtle gaze. His midnight black hair still hung down just around his eyes yet still framed his face nicely. I couldn't help but get a little misty-eyed. 

"Van . . . I-I don't believe it . . . you're here with me."

I could feel his quiet breathing on the nape of my neck as he leaned closer. 

"I've missed you so much, Hitomi." he kissed me lightly on the cheek but he turned his face so that he could rest his cheek beside mine. 

"I'll be seeing you soon."

Both of his hands were on my shoulders as I looked back into the crystal mirror. What confused me was that my features seemed to be melting into those of another's. My hair became longer and now rested on my shoulders in curly locks, and my eyes changed to sky blue. 

"I love you."

As his mouth closed, the mirror shattered and pieces shot at my eyes without giving me time to react. * \

  
  


"Hitomi, wake up." A quiet toned voice coaxed. My eyes burned as I tried to open them. I frantically wiped then with my hands, still thinking that there were shards of glass in them. 

"Hitomi!" Yuhan grabbed my wrists and forced me to look at him. "Whatever you just saw was a dream, nothing more."

My breathing was shallow and fast as I struggled to retain my cries. Desperately, I clung to him and cried softly. A dream with Van in it was powerful enough on its own, but a view of him with another woman, saying that he loved her, was too much for me to handle. Maybe that's why the mirror broke. Was it signifying something? Was what I saw in that mirror something that was actually going to happen? Or already did?

Van . . . never. 

  
  


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AN; I might not be updating regularly because school is being quite gay and I've gotta start studying more but I'll try to update on a semi-regular basis. :) *Elemental Angel* 


	4. Dancing In Tokyo

Born Of The Moon

Chapter IV

Dancing In Tokyo

  
  
  
  
  
  


Even now as Yuhan and I walk together through the crowded streets of Tokyo. I still feel embarrassed by my behavior on the subway. The hot feeling in my cheeks still remained. My head was hung low and we hadn't spoken a word since exiting the subway station.

"I believe you, Hitomi." 

His voice caught me off guard and I jumped a little. "W-what? You believe what?"

"Your story . . . I would call it an adventure of a lifetime."

"O-oh . . . well . . ." My blush had to of increased by ten at this time. "Thank you."

My beaming smile didn't last too long though. I became distracted by the people around me. My train of thought seemed to becoming slower, either that or everyone around me was slowing their pace. Even though it was nine in the morning currently, the sky appeared to be losing its brightness quite quickly. I looked at my watch and noticed that my second hand was gradually slowing down. 

'What the hell?' I thought to myself. Yuhan was even coming to a halt in mid-pace. 

"Yuhan! What's going on?!" I tried to pull on his sleeve but he was cemented in place. As I began to look around, I noticed that no one was moving at all. There was no noise in the city, no animals were making sounds, no one was speaking- there wasn't even a breeze. This had stopped. 

While I was off in my own little world, Yuhan and my body continued on as if nothing was wrong. 

"Hitomi, when did this all happen anyway?" My eyes must've appeared clouded and much darker, and my expression was no doubt stuck on lost- after all my soul was somewhere else.

Back in my lifeless world, I could've sworn I heard someone walking- someone else was actually alive here with me. I was about to call out but I was spoken to first. 

"Don't speak, Hitomi. Keep the silence as it stands." this person-- this man, was communicating with me through my mind somehow. That voice . . . 

"Folken?"

  
  


Yuhan sensed something was wrong with me so he guided my still functioning body to a seat. "Hitomi? Hitomi!"

  
  


"Yes Hitomi, it's me. It's Folken. Just please, try not to speak. This world might not remain stable if too much noise disturbs it. I came here to present you with an offer."

Hearing his voice brought back so many memories of Gaea, it was nearly painful. 

"Tell me."

I could head him chuckle as he smiled. "These people, all these different people. Their young faces, their varying bodies, fresh personalities. You don't belong with them. You're unlike them all. Even with all of their differences you can still be singled out from them by people who possess magical powers. There is an aura surrounding you, Hitomi. You're above them all, and you deserve to have a better existence amongst the people who adored because of whom you were, not because of the person you tried so hard to be. The people you live among are too materialistic for your liking, and I know this for a fact. I have been watching you suffer amongst them for a while now. Come back to Gaea which rejected you prematurely. Come back to the people who loved you-- for you." 

I understood well what his point was, but his voice, his tone was . . . deeper than usual. Folken was a man with a deeper voice to begin with, but it was even lower now. It sounded almost sinister to me. Not giving it a second thought though, I spoke to him with my mind. 

"What do I have to do to get back?" I was still madly searching the grey immobile crowd to see Folken. 

"In your heart, you now. Go there the night of the next full moon. That leaves you the rest of today and tomorrow. I'll come to get you."

"B-but Folken, why are . . ."

Unfortunately, before my question could even be finished, Folken's presence left me and color began to return to the land, and people and movement commenced once more. On no time, the streets of Tokyo were chiming with noise anew. 

I blinked and found myself seated on a street bench with Yuhan watching me attentively. 

"Hitomi! Are you okay? What happened?"

"Uhm . . ." I rubbed my eyes and tried my hardest to focus on him. "Remember in the story, how visions occurred?"

He nodded in agreement. 

"One of those happened." I stood up and began to walk again. 

"Wait! So where are we going anyway?"

"I'm going to stay at my mom's place until tomorrow night. That's when I'm going to leave." 

"Oh . . . then I'm staying with you until then. Just to make sure you're safe." I saw his face fall into sorrow as I said that. Now I had to cheer him up somehow. "Hey, wanna go get some breakfast? Or maybe some lunch?" His smile returned at my mention of food. 

"Sounds good to me. Where should we go?"

"I know where we can eat for free. Just follow me."

  
  


I had never really told Yuhan about my father before, and how he hated young men under the age of twenty-five. Too bad Yuhan was only twenty-one. He was almost in the clear. That also meant that he didn't know that my father owned and operated his own restaurant. 

"Apparently, small restaurants serve better quality food." Yuhan remarked as we entered my father's restaurant. Inside, soft music was playing and skimpily dressed dancers were on the stage performing sleek movements against each other. I saw Yuhan tense and stop. Frowning, I crossed my arms. 

"They aren't going to strip, Yuhan, They may be performers but this isn't a strip bar. They're my friends."

"F-friends?"His eyes shot back to them when they began to dance very close. "They aren't . . ."

A large was plastered on my face for sure by now. "Lesbians? Oh very much so. I'd like you to meet them. See the one with the long curly hair in the red? That's Hiyaki. The blonde in the blue is Miyasi. Come on!" I pulled at his hand, feeling much hesitation. We sat at a table near the middle of the room and waited for them to finish their song. 

Even in the midst of his nervousness, I could still see the anticipation in his eyes. Why men were so entranced by lesbians, I'd never know. Maybe it's better that I don't. 

"Hitomi! Is that really you?!" Miyasi had noticed me immediately after the stage lights went off and her vision of the crowd was more clear. 

"You'd surely be embarrassed if it wasn't, now wouldn't you?!" I said back to her. She and Hiyaki ran to me and gave me a crushing hug each. 

"I can't believe you're really here! What brought you back to Tokyo?" And this early in the day?"

I began to laugh; just seeing the two of them made me unbelievably happy. Then I remembered Yuhan who was still waiting behind me. 

"Oh, uhm, Yuhan. This is Miyasi and Hiyaki. The two main dancers for the restaurant. I've known then since the restaurant's been open . . . about twelve years." 

He bowed politely to both of them. "I-It's a pleasure to meet the both of you. Your dancing is captivating, I must say." 

I was getting the biggest kick out of this- his tone was even nervous! My mind couldn't stop laughing at him, although I felt bad for lying to him. True that they weren't lesbians, they both had steady boyfriends the last time I checked. Besides that fact, they were sisters. 

"I take it that was a practice run for tomorrow night?" During the early morning hours, business was close to nothing so they always had at least an hours worth of practice. "That was an awesome song. What language was it in?"

Hiyaki looked at Miyasi. "Oh gosh, it's a dead language . . . I think the old man said it was Atlantean. It's a legend about the draconians."

"What are draconians?" Yuhan asked. 

"They were the people of Atlantis. They possessed supernatural powers and also had angelic wings." I replied without even realizing the context of what I had said. 

"True, but there are many different legends about the people of Atlantis. If you ask me, I think it's a crock of shit. I don't believe any of those legends." This didn't get me mad, or even strike me as odd because Hiyaki didn't believe in anything whatsoever. 

Miyasi was next to speak. "You guys wouldn't happen to be hungry, would you?"

I saw Yuhan's large smile from the corner of my eye. I remember that he hadn't eaten in at least four hours. "Food sounds absolutely amazing right about now."

"Well then," Hiyaki giggled, linking onto Miyasi's arm, "We'd better get changed and prepare these starving customers some food, ne?" Together, they walked to the back of the stage. Yuhan stared in amazement yet again. I sighed, kicking him in the shin. He yelped and grabbed his lower led instantly. "Hey, what the hell was that for?!"

"Didn't anyone ever tell you it's not polite to stare? Now come on and sit down. The last thing I need is you following them absentmindedly."

"Why would I do that?!"

My head fell down as I sighed again. "You obviously know nothing about the average male mind, although you happen to be male yourself. You aren't keeping any secrets form me, are you?"

It was his turn to sigh, and a long, exasperated breath came out. This was certainly going to be an interesting meal. A twenty-one-year-old male with his good female friend and two other women of twenty-one years whom he believed were lesbians. Interesting indeed. 

  
  
  
  
  
  


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	5. Beginning Of Partings

Born Of The Moon

Chapter VI

Beginning Of Partings

  
  
  
  
  
  


The dinner Yuhan cooked had been fabulous and as we cleaned, I put on some music for us to move to. Just a soft beat was heard. I didn't enjoy heavy beat music. Only when I was in a bad mood. 

"So, Hitomi . . ." Yuhan started as he washed the last plate. "Tell me about this king. Van Fanel."

I dropped the plate I was holding and it crashed to the ground into dozens of tiny pieces of glass. Blood had to of rushed to my cheeks at the mention of his name. "What is there to tell? You read all about him."

I began to pick up the broken pieces of glass that were scattered across the floor with the towel I had been drying the dishes with. 

"Well yeah, but I wanna hear it from you. It always sounds better from someone who is in love than written on paper, even if it was written by that person."

"Uhm . . ." I gathered all the glass and placed it in the garbage. "I don't really know what to say. He was so cold hearted and emotionless when I first met him. You could say he was kind or raw. As I talked to him more, I found his nice side."

"Hearing you say that was more emotionally intense then anything written could ever be." He came and knelt beside me. "And I respect you for lasting this long. I think would've gone insane."

I began laughing, resting my forehead in my left palm "I don't know how I've made it this far without losing my sanity. When I left, it was heartbreaking for the both of us for sure. It was like losing a part of ourselves. If we saw each other for even for ten minutes, the emotions would be so overwhelming. 

"I can understand that."

  
  


Yuhan and I talked until midnight- around the time I was finding it hard to keep my eyes open. I went to my room to get some extra covers for him, and I pulled out the futon bed. 

"Wait, actually . . ." I took the mattress off of the metal frame and dragged it up the stairs. 

"Uh, Hitomi? What are you doing?" Yuhan began helping by picking up the other end and I led him to my room with the mattress. I was lucky that I had a lot of floor space. 

"I don't trust my father. He'd probably try to torture you in your sleep. At least if you're in here, I'll know is something happens."

His face fell. "Well then. Actually, I agree. Your father didn't seem to like me at al when we met." He yawned deeply. "I can honestly say I'm quite tired."

"Yeah, so am I."

"Hey!" His expression now told me he was slightly pissed off, yet amused. It's very hard to describe that look. I think he invented it. "Little miss 'slept for three hours on the subway'. I've been awake for more than twenty-four hours! I have more of a right to sleep now more than you do." He fell to the awaiting mattress happily. "But I have a feeling that I'm going to sleep like one of the dead tonight."

"Me too." I walked over to my cotton sheet-covered bed and pulled the covers up over my head. After about ten minutes I still wasn't asleep, to my amazement. I removed the covers from my head and stared at the ceiling for a few seconds before deciding to pull something out of my dresser drawer. After carefully stepping over a sleeping Yuhan's form, I opened the bottom drawer quietly as possible and removed a long, rectangular box. Treading back over him, I jumped onto my bed and touched the golden part of my three toned touch-lamp. A dim pale blue light barely lit the room as I opened the box and removed the item from the blue silk cloth. A few weeks after I had returned from Gaea, I was walking along the shoreline with Yukari and we saw a swan. In Japan, you don't see swans every day. It was timidly floating just before the shore, staring up down. Of course, never seeing a swan before in our lives, we stared right back at it, but not before I decided to take a picture of it. Just before it began to swim away, it pecked at its back and a single, glossy, ivory feather floated toward me. I caught it, and I've never parted with it since. Gods, it even smells like Van. Needless to say, when I got the pictures developed, that picture was just a simple picture of the shore- no swan. I never showed Yukari the picture though. Now here I sat with that same feather and that same blank picture in both my hands. Ironic things happen in my life. I wonder if I'm the only one. 

I put both items back into the box and placed them down at the foot of my bed so as not to forget them tomorrow when I stated to pack my bag. The bag I would bring with me when I went back to Gaea.

As I touched my tone lamp a few more times to turn it off, I saw Yuhan toss in his sleep. He was now on his side and was also facing me, his raven hair falling just over his face. If only I had moved on from Van years ago, no doubt I'd be dating him right now. We're too alike to not be together, but my love for Van has held me back and he respects me for that. I'll always respect Yuhan for his kindness and value his friendship with me. I just wish I could've given something to him in return. Then, a thought occurred to me. Just a simple act of kindness before I left could probably make him that much happier. He's always basked in hugs he's given me, never wanting them to end . . . 

I jumped purposely noisily down onto the mattress with him. He moaned, trying to turn over but I didn't let him. "Yuhan, wake up."

"Urg . . . wha-" His voice was so much deeper after he didn't talk for a while. It made me laugh. 

"Push back a little." He did as he was asked, probably because he didn't want his sleep to be more disturbed than it already was. As soon as I had enough room to lay down, I pulled up the covers and got very close to him. 

"Uh . . ." I could tell just by the tone of his voice that he was more alert now. "Nothing like that, Yuhan. I just want to pay you back for all the kindness you've shown me. And for believing me."

He still didn't quite know what to do. Since I was laying on my right side, I took his left arm and put it around my waist, and slightly intertwined my legs with his. He was still kind of uptight but with past experience, I've learned that he's highly adaptable to uncomfortable situations. "Yuhan, I won't bite." I felt his laugh from his chest which was pressed up against my back. "Body heat. I'm freezing. Plus," I turned around to meet his dark eyes. "I'm sure you've wanted just to hold me for a long time, ne?" I saw his eyebrows rise as he laughed again. "Friends, Yuhan. Friends." I smiled and turned back around. As I knew he would, he soon became adjusted and we both slept peacefully together, just as friends, nothing more. I didn't see his sweet smile when I said some very important words. 

"Thank you, Yuhan. For everything you've done for me."

  
  


The next time I awoke, the sun was hanging low, just outside my window. I blinked a few times, not believing it. Considering that my window is the west side of the house, if the sun were to be where it was at that moment, it'd have to be around past five o'clock at night at this time of year. I also noticed that Yuhan was gone. 

"Oh, shit!" I screamed, jumping to feet and running downstairs as fast as I possibly could. I found him sitting at my kitchen counter, my story of Gaea spread around him. His back was to me, so I coughed so that I wouldn't scare him. I noticed he was deeply emerged in it, seeing as he didn't budge when I coughed. 

"Yuhan?" This time he jumped, scattering a few pages. 

"Hitomi . . ."

I walked behind the counter and grabbed an apple. "How long have you been awake for?" I asked, biting into the blood red fruit. "Well?"

"About three hours. Why?"

"I'm wondering how you're still alive with my father in this house." I laughed.

"Actually," he started gathering up all the pages and replacing them in order. "They haven't come home yet."

I continued to eat my apple in silence. 

"You look pretty sad. What's up?"

"The fact that I didn't wake up earlier. I wish I had 've set my alarm or something. I must've been more tired than I thought." 

Yuhan retied the string on my folder and rested it on the counter. "I'm sorry for not waking you. You just looked to deep in sleep to be woken."

I gave him a hug before heading back upstairs to take a shower and to begin to pack for that night. 

My warm shower had calmed my nerves and diminished my worrying of the whereabouts of my parents. After I was dressed and packed, I got Yuhan to help me make sure that I had everything I needed. 

"Ok, name some things I'd need."

He smiled, crossing his arms and sitting down on my desk chair. "This is going to be a long list. Ok, first, changes of clothes."

"Five pairs."

"Socks?"

"Socks are very important." I smiled. 

"Underwear and bras?"

"Any other guy would've laughed at that."

"Toiletries?"

"That word is hilarious."

"Uhm . . . hairbrush?"

"Yup."

"Sweaters?"

"Uh huh."

"Uhm . . . shoes?"

"Running shoes." 

"Hat?" 

"Yes." 

"I'm running out of ideas here." He sighed. "We're getting to less important things."

"How about tampons?" I saw his eyebrows raise, along with his eyes widen.

"Considering the fact that tampons are not an item I normally carry with me and are things that I'll never have a use for in my life . . ."

"Speak for yourself. Hm, ok then I think I'll be good even if I end up in the middle of nowhere." I zipped up the double zippers on my backpack and lifted it up to my bed from the ground. 

"You're forgetting one thing." He reached into his back pocket and pulled out something in a white envelope. "Don't read it now, but if you ever feel discouraged, open it."

"Ooh! Yuhan, thanks. Thank you so much." I gave him a large hug. "I'm going to miss you so much. Thank you for coming here with me and for staying with me yesterday in Tokyo. Do you want to borrow my car so you can drive you home?"

"No, I'd rather stay with and until you leave. I'd love to see this pillar of pale blue light lift you away with my own eyes."

I had to bite my bottom lip so that I wouldn't cry. I noticed that it was now six thirty and the sun was starting to set. 

"I don't know when he's going to come for me, but I do know where I have to be. We'd better get going."

  
  


All of this time was going by too fast for me. It felt as though I was being rushed into this and I wasn't liking it. The only thing that kept me going was Van. Thinking about seeing him again kept me pushing against ill fate and my own personal hell of solitude. Nothing was going to keep me from seeing him again. Nothing in this world.

  
  
  
  


~*~

  
  


Seeing as it's 5.47 AM and I have to go to school today, I'd just like to say that I've been up since about five typing out this chapter I wrote for you people during my french classes the past week. Please leave a review to show that you do care about my labor for you all! LOL that and the fact that you actually like the chapter. Sorry if there's a lot of mistakes!


	6. Stairway To Heaven

Born Of The Moon

Chapter VI

Stairway To Heaven  
  
  
  
  
  


"So what's your king's homeland like?"

We had reached the track field tem minutes earlier and had just been walking around since then. "It sounded like a nice place while it thrived with life."

I took in a deep breath of the fresh air. We were right by a forest but the smell of the fresh trees didn't dare compare to the wonderful aroma Fanelia had. "The smell around here is pretty fresh, but you can still pick out the different smells of pollution. Gaea is a place which isn't as evolved as our earth is yet. Fanelia especially wasn't a place that would accept new age machinery. They were a happy people just they way they were. Fanelia had such a beautifully rich smell. It's obviously nothing compared to any place we could find around here."

I sat down on the lowest bleacher and rested my chin on my palms. "I really can't believe I'm going back. You have no idea how excited I am."

"You have a weird and calm way of showing it." Yuhan laughed as h crossed his arms. "Do you think that he'll have Fanelia back to how it was before it was burned to ashes?"

I closed my eyes and tried to picture the old Fanelia. "If he hasn't I'd be very surprised. He was the kind of person who, when started something, finished it as well and as fast as he could. I wouldn't be surprised if Fanelia was ten times greater than before. I also wouldn't be surprised if it was a richer country either."

My watch read eight-thirty pm the next time I looked at it. The sun had long since been set and stars were beginning to speckle the sky with their brilliance. What set the eerie mood of the evening was the full moon that was rising just in front of us. 

"It's not that I've never seen a full moon before but holy shit, it's creeping the hell out of me right now. It almost looks blue."

Another half an hour passed and still, nothing happened. I felt Yuhan's eyes on me as he spoke. "You do realize that you're pacing, right, Hitomi?" I stopped and looked at him- sitting on the bleachers. 

"I am not."

"Them why is there a single line of dirt that's cleared right where you stand?"

I saw the distinct line of cleared dirt in front of me. I started to both laugh and cry. "I don't know why I'm nervous. I just don't know why! I shouldn't be. It's not like I'm going somewhere I've never been before! I should be happy! I'm going to see the man I love! I'm going to see him for the first time in four years! I should be ecstatic for god's sake! I should be running around acting like a gitty little school girl! I should be happy!"

After my little outburst I immediately fell to the ground, crying like there was no tomorrow. Like I was going to be left on the earth forever and was never going to get to see the man of my dreams ever again. "I don't even know why I'm crying."

I adjusted my legs so that I was now sitting with them crossed. Yuhan soon joined me. "Maybe something's happened."

"Yuhan! Don't say that!" I hadn't had any bad visions since Folken had visited me so I had no reason to think something bad had happened. 

"I didn't mean to upset you." He placed an arm around my shoulders and pulled me close. "I'm sure he'll be coming for you soon."  
  


Again, we began to talk and my watch now read eleven-forty-seven pm. The moon was almost directly above us and I was getting restless. 

"It'll probably happen soon. I know it will!"

"Hitomi Kanzaki! What on earth are you doing?!" A deep voice yelled through the night. 

Both Yuhan and I froze. My parents were running towards us. "Get into the car!" my mother yelled. 

"No!" I was backing away slowly, having Yuhan in front of me. 

"Get away from her, boy. I knew you were no good for her! You dragged her out here in the middle of the night, and god only knows what you were going to do to her if we hadn't of come!" 

My mother stepped out of the car and ran to catch up with my father. "Hitomi, what are you going out here at this hour?!"

"How did you find me?" I asked, annoyed. Why in hell did they have to be here right now?

"Miyasi was driving behind you while on the way to work. She told us you were headed this way when she got to the restaurant."

"You can never trust me, can you?!" I yelled, turning my back to all of them and beginning to walk down the track. 

'Hitomi . . .' I gasped as Folken's voice rang in my mine. He was coming. As soon as his voice was heard, I felt a static charge travel throughout the air around me.

My parents were heading back to the car as I called Yuhan over to me. 

"I wanted to give you something for coming with me tonight, and well, basically being there for me when no one else was." I fidgeted with the zippers on my bag before finally being able to pull out the blue box. I handed it to him and clasped his hands over it. 

"As you said to me when you gave me that card, only open this if you ever feel discouraged."

"He's coming for you. Van is coming for you very soon, isn't he?"

I let my head fall as I sighed. "No, not him. His brother."

The weak charge I had felt earlier was much stronger now and I knew that the lightning bolts would start to touch down. 

"Stay close to me, Yuhan. You don't want to get hit."

"Hit . . . hit? Hit by what? Your psycho father?!" he began to panic. Just as I had predicted, lightning began to dance all over the field. "By lightning. Come on now."

I screamed when lightning hit my parent's car, but I quickly remembered that the rubber in the tires would protect them. Too bad that I had a larger problem than worrying about them at that point. I had become immobilized by the beam of light that was slowly descending towards me. 

"Yuhan!" I reached out to hug him before I was taken away. I looked into his eyes one last time. I smelt his hair one last time. I felt his body against mine one last time and I spoke to him. One last time. 

"Thank you."

I felt a hand on my shoulder as I slowly let go of Yuhan. Bathed in the warm blue light was myself and a black winged angel. I took Folken's arm, not looking directly at him just yet. I could hear my parents yelling for me, but I wasn't about to go back to them now. Not when I was this close to going back. 

"I'm sorry. Goodbye."

"Folken's mouth was at my ear as he spoke. "Are you ready to go back now?"

"Yes."

Yuhan still hadn't let go of my hand. I figured he wouldn't let go until I was lifted away. Ever so subtly, my feet started to lift from the track field. Yuhan seemed to be scared of the light but he decided to enter into the column regardless. Just as I was barely touching his 

fingertips . . .

"I promise, I'll never forget you! I promise it, Yuhan!"  
  
  
  


I awoke what seemed like eons later in complete darkness. The air around me was cold and it also felt thick and heavy. I wasn't stuck in any sort of fog, so why did the air feel like this?

'Hitomi . . .' My senses became more alert as I heard someone speak my name. 

'Your searching . . .' This voice that spoke resembled Folken's once again. 'Is done almost completely in vain. Fair Hitomi, you have made your choice.'

The air lost its thickness as the floor seemed to break. Too bad I couldn't see what the floor was even made of, or looked like. I fell with the debris which I still couldn't see, and as I tried to scream, no sound came. I shut my eyes tightly, waiting for the moment when I would hit the ground and die. There didn't seem to be anything I could do. Surprisingly, it never came. Although I didn't open my eyes, I could feel someone take a hold of my hand, then another arm slid around my waist. 

'Open your eyes, Hitomi. You're safe now. I'm here with you.'

I drew in a breath immediately as I heard my king's deep voice speaking to me. As I finally reopened my eyes, I found myself and Van in the heart of what seemed like a rainforest seated near a lake. His hair was wet from the dew that was falling from the trees, and his skin was slick with sweat from the humidity. It wasn't one of those dripping sweats that a lot of the male athletes I knew had after running. Oh no, this was one of those . . . arousing sweats. 

"V-Van . . ." I knew I had to be blushing by now. That was just a given. I was already leaning back so I was now laying down on the warm, grassy ground. All of the wet trees smelt amazing, but were nothing compared to the man who leaned above me. 

'Thank you for understanding.' he whispered as he brushed a hand over my cheek. I understood something? What?

"You thank me for understanding what, Van?"

'Thank you . . ."

Unfortunately for me, I didn't get anytime to respond to that because my lips had been sealed in a loving kiss, it was just perfect. As I ran short of breath I reluctantly pulled away, still staring into Van's deep auburn eyes. 

'Thank you so very much, Hitomi. I will be seeing you soon. Come here with me.'

He took my hand and guided me over to the crystal clear lake. 'Look into it.'

I did as I was told, and inside, I saw the direct reflection of myself. 

"Van? What am I looking at?"

He smiled his sheepish smile, and responded simply by saying; 'You'll see it.'

I watched as a few ripples of water rushed by, blurring the crystal reflection, and just like the last time I had been with Van, my features morphed into that of another woman's. My hair became longer and developed wavy curls, and my face became much more paler, like a porcelain doll's. Eyes now reflected as bye as the sky above us, and I could feel the tears burning behind my eyes once more. 

"Van, can you tell me who this is? Who is she?" Before I could even turn around, I felt a hand shove me by my waist and the next thing I knew, I was face first into the water without air. Then everything went black, but not before I could see Van looking down at me from above the water . . .   
  


~*~  
  
  
  
  
  


*takes deeeeeeep breath* I am soo sorry this chapter took so long! ACK I just found out that exams are coming up SOON! As in NEXT WEEK soon! I might not have the next chapter up but let's just say I know what's going to happen and I'm predicting that no one's really going to like it...mwahahha. Fear not though, I have all of June to post more chapters, but then my net is cut for 2 months! *BAH* but that will give me time to write this entire story out for all or you! Sorry this note is so long but I hope to receive more reviews! They make me happy and push me to write more faster! See you all and wish me luck! LOL I think I'm going to need it!  
  


*Elemental Angel*


	7. Escalator To Hell

Born Of The Moon

Chapter VII

Escalator To Hell  
  
  
  


Judging by the expression on Folken's face as I looked at him, I had to of screamed quite loudly. I noticed that my breathing was heavy, but I couldn't get enough in when I tried. And why was my face wet?

"Hitomi, please lay back down." he gently pushed me back down to the bed by my shoulder. "Your fever is still high."

I could see him rinsing a cloth in a bowl of water. 

"Did you have a bad dream?" He asked as he rested the freezing cloth on my forehead. "You were tossing violently in your sleep."

For some reason I couldn't find the words to answer his question. I could only stare at his appearance. He wore a black sleeveless shirt that somewhat resembled Van's old red shirt. It had gold colored ties and I could just see the waist of his black pants. I could also see a thick strap of leather that no doubt had a sword attached to it. 

He removed the now warm cloth from my forehead and rinsed it again. As I tried to take in a deep breath I realized that I was having trouble breathing.

"Folken, my throat . . . it's hard to breathe. Why?"

"It's the medicine for your fever. It won't affect your breathing for much longer. Just don't do anything to excite yourself."

He took the cloth again and began to dab my face, neck and collarbone with it. I could actually feel a bit of the coldness the cloth held as he wet my neck. 

"That feels good." I sighed. It felt like the cold water was boiling and evaporating on my skin. "Please, don't stop."

Smiling, he left the cloth on my forehead again. "The redness in your face seems to be fading. I think the medication is starting to work. You should be feeling better very soon."

I used my little strength to look around. There were many shelves of books across from the bed I was in. They looked very old, like books that magicians would use. 

As my respiration became more regular and I could take in deep breaths without choking, I sat myself up and asked him what kind of books they were.

"They're spell books that old magicians that used to work in the marketplace used. Some have little tricks in them, say to amuse children with. Others have powerful spells and magic within them."

Although I could breathe again, that didn't help the strong fever I still had. My head became overwhelmed with a fuzzy feeling and I fell back down to the bed. I knew that as I saw spots that I had to sleep a little longer. I didn't argue when Folken stated such. 

"I'll leave you now and return in an hour. Rest well, Hitomi."

I was more than certain that he'd let me sleep for more than an hour. I just hoped that this sleep was free of dreams.   
  


The sleep I had had to of been the greatest and most peaceful I had experienced in a very long time. When I woke up, I could hear the soft patting of rain on the window above me, and I jumped as a flash of lightning lit up the entire room and a clap of thunder shook the entire house. I couldn't help but whimper and pull the covers over my head; so I was a little jumpy. It wasn't like a thunderstorm was helping much!

"Hitomi, are you awake now?" Folken's voice sounded to be coming from across the room. I removed the covers from my head and found him sitting at a desk, writing something. 

"Unfortunately." I felt my forehead. "But I think my fever's gone."

"I'm glad." He caught my attention as he dripped red wax onto an envelope. I got up and watched as he pressed a golden ring he wore on his right index finger onto the drying wax. It left the imprint of the majestic looking dragon. 

"Wow, that must've cost a fortune, Folken." I picked up the letter and read whom it was made out to. "Who's Tarren?"

Folken picked up a few more letters and took the one he had just sealed. "Tarren is a merchant from Asturia. He lived in the Floresta Mountains for a long period of time but some of the angry townspeople were trying to drive out all of the feline people, such as Naria and Eriya's parents." I saw the sadness in his dark eyes as he paused. "He had always harvested the rare plants that thrived in the Floresta Mountains. Lots were for magic. That's actually how I got to know him well as a friend. I would need some of those roots quite often. Just in the past while though, no one's really heard from him, so I'm sending him this letter."

Growing up on earth, you never hear much about roots being used in medicine, never mind magic. "What did you make from them?"

As Folken stood up, I decided to follow him. "Oh, mostly for medicines and healing liquids." We were now in the parallel room which had a shelf full of bottles with different colored liquids inside. "Like this one." He said, pulling off a rather small bottle from the tallest shelf. The liquid inside was white and not very translucent. "This is the one I used to cure your fever."

Removing the cork, he gestured for me to smell it, so I did. "Oh my god!" I pulled myself away as quickly as possible. "That smells really bad! How come I didn't smell it when I woke up earlier?"

Folken laughed quite a bit at my disgusted face. He replied as he re-corked the bottle. "That's because it had already sunken into your skin by that time. The smell disappears after that."

Another large clap of thunder made me jump. "Dammit! I hate it when it does that!"

I took a few deeps breaths and began to walk around. Folken seemed to be living in a forest somewhere. Could it have been in Fanelia?

"Folken, do we happen to be in Fanelia?"

"I'm sorry, but no. We're about an hours time away if we were to be on horseback."

My heart fell a little. We couldn't travel in rain, so I guessed waiting was in my schedule.

"I know you're anxious to see Van again. We'll eat something now and as soon as the storm lets up, we'll head to Fanelia."

"Really?!" I exclaimed, sounding a little more happier than I would've liked. "I mean, really, Folken?"

Taking two small bottles from a lower shelf, he guided me to a set table. "Yes, really, Hitomi. I have two horses in my stable outside."

I let out a happy sigh as I sat down. Soon I'd be able to see Van! It wouldn't be a vision or a dream either. This would be the real thing.  
  


As we ate, I told him about some things that had happened to me in the past couple of years. 

"I've seen you a few times on your planet. You've always looked sad and like you were missing something. Was that something Van?"

The only thing that made me wonder was the aspect of him watching me. I had never sensed his presence with me before. "When did you visit me?"

"Only in your dreams. If you ever remember going over the events that happened in your day in a dream, that would be a night that I'd be trying to speak with you." He offered me a glass of red wine. "Do you drink wine?"

I laughed as he handed it to me. "Not often, but I guess I have a good enough reason to celebrate!"

Folken poured himself a glass and offered me a toast. "To the girl from the Mystic Moon, the savior of Gaea, and that she will find true love in her soul mate soon."

I gave him a twisted smile as we clinked our glasses together. "Thank you."

If there's one thing I have to say about the wine on Gaea, it's that, compared to the wine on earth, this wine is much sweeter and the alcohol is much less detectable. That was mostly the reason why I became drunk at dinner with King Aston, Princess Millerna, Princess Aries, Lord Meiden, Allen and Van. As I reflected on that the next day, I was so embarrassed. Ah well. I guess I had to act like a normal teenager sometime while I was there. No harm in getting a large buzz on some nice foreign wine!

"Folken, this wine is so tasty. Wine on earth sucks compared to this stuff."

One of his eyebrows raised ever so slowly. "Sucks?"

Darn. Too bad he wasn't educated in the everyday vocabulary of the average teenager. Well, average teenager from earth anyway. 

"Sucks . . . god how to explain this word . . . Uhm, well okay." I got up and chose a random book from the shelf. "Say you didn't like this book. If someone asked you how it was, you could say it sucked."

Folken didn't seem to be paying attention to my explanation. Instead, he was staring out the window. "The rain has stopped. I know how much you would like to see Van again. Would you like to saddle the horses?"

"Yes!"  
  


No, you couldn't tell that I was excited at all. Not even when you considered the fact that I had saddled my horse in record time, no, you would've never known. 

"This way, Hitomi." Folken said as he mounted his horse. His was a light brown stallion with a long mane that was a few hues darker, along with its tail. Mine was white with a mane and tail mixed with white and brown. 

"Do they have names, Folken?" I asked as we entered the forest. 

"Yes actually, they do. The one you ride is named Belubelu. Mine is Narunaru. You can call her Belu if you want for short though."

I became a little hesitant. "After Naria and Eriya?"

Folken slowed his horse. "How did you know their real names?"

"Oh. Just in . . . a vision I had while I was with Naria." I slowed to Folken's pace. "I also saw their parents after they were killed and burned in the Floresta Mountains. It was . . . horrible."

He nodded in agreement. "I'd rather talk about something else now though."

I nodded, but nothing to talk about came to mind, so we spent some time in silence. It was nice to see the scenery on Gaea, and to hear all the exotic animals. The forest had that smell to it, similar to the smell of Fanelia, except now it was dewy. God how I love that smell.

  
  


"I have a question for you. What made you bring me back to Gaea? I didn't know you could speak with me either."

"Just in dreams, Hitomi. I only visited you that day in Tokyo because I didn't know where you were. You see, yes, I am able to speak with you through the use of magic, but I can't predict where you are at that moment. I can only assume by the strength of your activeness I can feel. I felt that you were quite fatigued and I could only think that you were resting. I'm sorry for not waiting for a more obvious time."

"No, it's okay. No one really noticed anyway."

"What about that man you were with?" He laughed, gently nudging Naru in the side. I copied his action and we both sped up a little. "What about him Folken?" I asked with a large grin on my face. 

"Well, what did he say about what happened? I could sense his presence with you the entire time."

"Man, there's no fooling you. I'd hate to see what would happen when someone lied to you when you knew the truth." I continued to laugh once again. Yes, I was super-gitty now. This was the kind of mood I needed to be in before going to Gaea. "Well, Yuhan read about my being on Gaea. I wrote it all out as a story. Then I told him it really happened and he believed me. He was the only one too."

"I'm sorry to hear it." Folken said, his voice quiet. "It must've been very annoying to tell someone in trust and then have them not believe you."

"You have no idea." I laughed sarcastically. "But, he believed me and stayed with me until you came for me, thank god, and . . . Oh my god! It's Fanelia!" I screamed as I saw the castle gates. I swiftly kicked Belu in the sides and we began to gallop towards Fanelia. I couldn't believe I was really here. After all this time, here I was, in Fanelia. 

When I finally reached the gates, I had to patiently wait for Folken. Two minutes seemed like an hour. 

"Good Morning, Lord Folken. Are you here on business once again?" One of the guards asked. God! I had no time for small talk now!

"Yes, and I have also brought a guest, Lady Hitomi, along with me. Could I ask that she be escorted to the castle to see King Van? He and she are good . . . friends." Folken winked at me after his last comment. The guard gave me an odd look.

"Of course."

"Hitomi," Folken began before I left. "If you wish to come back with me, meet me here at sundown."

I nodded as the gates closed behind us and he headed off on his own way.  
  


Oh my god. Oh. My. God. No, I wasn't becoming panicked as we got closer and closer to the castle. I wouldn't have called my breathing close to hyperventilating, no, not in the least. My heart felt like it was going to explode out of my chest though. My hands were becoming sweaty on the reigns as well. Ok, no pressure. 

The same guard led me through the confusing brick maze that was the castle. Many old paintings decorated the walls and dark colored floor rugs were everywhere. It was a beautiful castle, I'd have to say. It was much more elegant than the previous time I had visited. 

"Lord Van's room it at the end of this corridor. Please, enjoy your visit."

"I will!" I chirped, skipping down the hall to Van's room.   
  


I must've stood outside that door for a good fifteen minutes. Again, that feeling of everything being rushed came back, but it was now at a standstill. Every second felt like a minute. About an hour and fifteen minutes ago I was sitting at a table calmly with Folken, drinking some good Gaean wine. Now I stood outside King Van Fanel's bedroom doors. I noticed that there was a full length mirror to my left. I checked my appearance. The top I wore was slightly creased, but nothing to worry about. My pants were uncuffed at the bottom and were hanging over my sneakers. Maybe my attire was the reason that guard had stared oddly at me. Wait, that had to be the reason. No one dressed like me here. 

"Ok, no time like the present." I whispered to myself as I ran my hand through my hair. Just as I moved to turn the doorknob, I was overcome with a horrible feeling. A violent shiver ran down my spine and I pulled back my hand. Was Van in some kind of danger? Was he hurt? Was something bad happening right now?

I slowly opened the large wooden door and poked my head inside. What I saw wretched both my heart and my stomach simultaneously and with the same intensity. I thought I was going to be sick on the spot. 

I saw my King, Van Fanel, laying on his royal bed in the middle of the room, the silk red covers hanging at different lengths off of the side of the frame. Van was laying there with his shirt off and his wings spread and underneath him, a woman lay clad in her undergarments. Her hair was long, curly and dark brown just like the woman's I had seen in the vision I had. I couldn't see the color of her eyes because they were closed, along with Van's. They were kissing wildly, both oblivious to my presence. I began to see spots in my vision. I saw them began to shift as I stifled a hurt gasp of air. The woman seemed to hear as she opened her eyes. She gasped and pulled the covers up to hide herself. Van looked in my direction and when his eyes reached mine, he paled somewhat. 

"H-Hitomi . . . I-"

"No." I said, now using the door to stable myself. As he began to approach me, I took one step back for every step he took forward. Tears burned behind my eyes, but I refused to let them fall now. My world had been shattered by him, and I didn't understand why he had broken his vow of love. I only knew one thing. 

"I hate you, Van . . . hate you . . ."

  
  


~*~  
  


TA DAA. Please Review! 

Important Note from E.A.; I have bad news to inform you all of! *sniff* I will be computer-less for July and August! *kicks random object across the room in fit of rage* I'm quite mad but I'll try not to leave you all hanging with this chapter cause I know waiting two months for the chapter after this would be quite...cruel...:D I'll try to upload any chance I get! Thanks and bye!

*Elemental Angel*


	8. Discouraged Distractions

Born Of The Moon 

Chapter VIII

Discouraged Distractions 

  
  
  
  
  
  


Everything I knew had become a blur. My breathing had become uneven once again as Van tried to stop me from running. I screamed and ran for all I was worth. At this point, being a star track athlete had the greatest advantage of all. Van couldn't keep up with my speed and had given up almost just as he had started. 

"I hate you Van Fanel! Don't you ever come near me again!"

  
  


I had not the slightest idea how I had gotten out of the castle, nor did I care. I just ran until I reached the marketplace and threw myself into a crowd of people, hoping to be unnoticed. My legs were tired from the sudden running I had done without a warmup and were beginning to ache. I sat myself down against the nearest shop, pulled my knees up to my chin and rested my head. I pressed my forehead against my jeans and began to whimper. I tried to cry, but for some reason I couldn't seem to. The truth was that I wanted, no, needed to cry, yet something was holding me back. 

"You're a strong one, little Miss."

I pushed my hair out of my eyes and looked up to the shopkeeper above me. He was an older man with a long dark brown beard and dark eyes to match. I was in no mood to converse, however. 

"What would you know." I stood up and saw that there was a mirror to my right. I slowly decided to look into it, hoping to god that I wouldn't see anything like I did the last time. What I did see was my own reflection, thank the lord. My eyes were bloodshot, but not from crying, and my hair was a mess now. It was hanging down past both of my shoulders, and just then, I saw my grandmother's face smiling back at me. 

"You're strong, Hitomi." 

I screamed and jumped away from the mirror as she spoke. No, I wasn't about to have any more damn visions! Not now!

"You see, she knows you too well, Miss."

I turned and gave the shopkeeper a disgusted look. Then, I noticed the katana blade resting on his table for sale. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a twenty-dollar bill. 

"I'll take that. I hope twenty's enough." I threw the money at the old man. He simply smiled. 

I took the blade and went back to the mirror. This time, I saw my mother's face. It was a memory I had from a few months after I had returned from Gaea. 

"My goodness, Hitomi. You look so much like your grandmother now that your hair's long!" 

  
  


I closed my eyes and shook my head to try to get the thought out of my mind. The shopkeeper stepped away as I unsheathed the blade and pulled back my hair. Its length now was a little longer than my grandmother's was, about 3/4 of the way past her shoulder blades. I bunched up my hair and ran the blade through it. It cut past my hair like a hot knife. 

The man gasped as a long clump of my hair fell to the ground. At least, that's why I thought he gasped. 

"Hey there, Miss!" I almost began to run as a Fanelian guard came rushing towards me. "Are you the Lady Hitomi?"

I could only stare at the man with a cold glare. I didn't have the heart to answer. 

"Idiot!" Another guard called. "King Van said she had longer hair then that! Come on, we're wasting time here!"

He apologized to me and ran off with the four others. The shopkeeper laughed again.

"Smart woman."

  
  
  
  


It was a long wait for Folken to return to the castle gates at the end of the day. I had attached my new sword to Belu's saddle and had found a new patch of grass to lay down in. I didn't even realize I had fallen asleep until Folken had woken me. 

"Still haven't gotten enough rest, I see." He said, extending a hand to help me up. It wasn't until then that I noticed that his machine-like arm was gone.

"Folken, your arm . . ."

"Yes," He laughed. "It's just a sort of mask for my arm. It's made of plaster mostly. I realized it would be a good investment as soon as I started to make frequent visits to Fanelia."

It surprised me that he didn't ask why my hair was shorter now. And also, why I hadn't stayed with Van. Maybe he had heard what had happened. Then, as if he had heard my 

thoughts . . .

"I sense your uneasiness, so I will not bother you."

  
  


The ride we had back was silent. At least, as far as speaking aloud goes. Inside my head, everything was all but silent. My thoughts were streaming at miles a second, never ceasing. What finally brought me out of my dead trace-like state was a droplet of cold water on my cheek. I looked up to the sky and saw how dark it had become. Rain was beginning again. 

"We had better hurry." Folken said, clipping Naru in the sides.

"What's the point?" I said, dully. Getting wet was the least of my worries right now. "It's not like we won't get a little wet by the time we get back to your cabin. Might as well get drenched and make the best of it." 

I could feel Folken looking at me, even through the dark of this beginning night. The rain, unlike the previous time, was much lighter. It started as mist and then progressed into a constant fall of water, but it still kept its feather-lightness. Almost like a waterfall. 

"I don't understand what I could've done wrong." I said without realizing. Folken seemed to realize this and responded with nothing. "I just don't understand."

My tears finally began to fall as we approached Folken's cabin. It seemed warm and very welcoming now, but I couldn't seem to move after I dismounted Belu. I was frozen to the ground as the rain continued to fall. Folken took a hold of Belu and Naru's reigns and took them inside their shelters. 

I watched him as my tears fell as constantly as the rain. He placed blankets over them, and placed new food in front for them. 

So loving . . . 

I could see him glancing at me every now and then, but he didn't seem to be that worried. He then took a brush and he brushed out the knots from the both of their manes. 

  
  


So caring . . . 

  
  


The next thing I knew I was on the ground in the wet leaves, pounding away at them furiously, screaming and crying the loudest I ever possibly could. He closed the door to the stable and ran for me. I pushed him away and ran into the cabin on my own. I needed to be alone now. I needed . . . God, who did I need? Who could make me feel better now? Who could always make me feel better when I felt this shitty? 

  
  
  
  
  
  


~Dearest Hitomi,

  
  


Well, after reading your story I can honestly say that it was amazing. You wrote it with such passion and I really felt as though I were there. Then you told me it really happened. Who was I to question you? You and I both know you're no writer, and for someone to just come out of the blue with a story like that was something else. I had a feeling from the beginning about that story of Gaea. The way you described things was just too realistic and unbelievable to not be true. Now I see how you hurt inside, and I understand why, ever since that incident with Amano at the track has changed you. How time didn't move while you were there and how no one really knew what had happened to you. I noticed a distinct change in you when you decided to move out here in Sendai. The girl I knew from Tokyo was no longer who she used to be. You were more optimistic now, with more of a personality, not that you didn't have one before, and you had more of a dedication to life. You seemed to be a better person in all, and I wondered what could've done that to you. It was definitely something that didn't just happen over night, ya know? The second I got into that story, I knew this had to be the explanation for it all, and it was just so overwhelming, I couldn't believe what I was reading. 

I can understand all the reasons you have for wanting to go back and I don't blame you for a single moment. You developed a second family there, and since almost nothing is going right for you here now, it's only natural for you to want to go back to a place where you're welcomed, no matter what the circumstances. And also, it seems like you actually do belong there. The man you love is there and waiting for you, and his love for you couldn't be wrong. If it is, he deserves to die for leading you on. 

Just know these few things. Even if your friends don't believe every word that you say to them, they will always love you for who you are. The same with your parents. We all love you and hope that maybe someday you will come back to us. You're a fighter. You always have been. Don't you ever get discouraged and feel like you have to come back just because something goes wrong there. You'll find some way to work it out. You've always been good like that. 

Well, it's time to close this letter to you. I just hope that now that you're in the place that makes you happy, you can tie up all the loose ends you left, and lead a good life.

I'll never stop missing you, and don't forget, I'll always love you for who you are. 

*Yuhan*

  
  
  
  


I folded the letter back up and put it away in my bag. He told me to read it if I ever became discouraged, and I didn't think that there could be a moment that I felt more discouraged and wanting to go back home like I did now. My world had caved in on me and I was feeling so vulnerable and just plain out of it. I felt a little better after reading his letter, but the pain of it all was still with me. I needed something to distract my mind. Maybe some wine would help. I wiped my eyes clear of tears and went to find Folken. 

My hair was still dripping wet as I found him in his room again, writing it seemed. He hadn't changed yet and was still in his wet clothes, as was I. 

"Folken?" I asked in a rather small voice.

"Yes, Hitomi? Is there something you'd like?"

"Uhm . . ." I paused. "Some wine and some company would be nice."

  
  


Folken came back to see me in my room after he had gotten some wine. He sat down with me on my guest bed and poured two glasses of wine for us. 

"Here." He handed me my glass and I drank it all. Taking in a deep breath, I sighed and laid down sideways on my bed. 

"I still don't understand."

Folken took small gulps of his glass as he questioned me. "Can you tell me what happened now? Or would you rather not talk about it still." 

"I found Van . . ." 

"Did you two talk?" 

"No." I replied, closing my eyes.

"What did you do?"

I took a deep breath and replayed the scene in my head. "He was on his bed with his wings spread, and there . . . there was a woman underneath him. She was almost completely naked and . . . they were totally making out." Once again I began to cry silent tears. "I thought he loved me. Why couldn't he have told me that he had found someone else? I would've accepted it and moved on instead of having to find out for myself."

Folken rested his glass of wine with the bottle on the night table and laid down beside me. 

"I don't understand his actions either. Maybe he felt as though it would hurt you too much if he were to tell you."

"He should know that I could've taken it! I'm an understanding person! He should've been straight forward with me and not have kept it a secret!" I was becoming a little pissed off now. "Can I have another glass of wine please?"

He passed me the bottle. "Enjoy."

I sighed in thanks and began to drink. 

"You have a right to be mad at Van. He shouldn't have done that to you. He should've realized that it would hurt you more to not know."

"I wish I could understand." I said, sitting up and drinking some more. My head was starting to feel fuzzy so I decided to put the wine bottle back on the table.

"Thanks, Folken. For letting me stay here with you." I smiled, giving him a hug.

"It's no problem" He responded, hugging me back. "You're always welcome here."

I began to laugh hysterically, much to Folken's surprise. "What is it?" He asked.

"It smells so good in here!" I went to the window and opened it. Fortunately, the rain was falling in the opposite direction so none would come inside. "You know what it smells like Folken?"

"What?"

I could tell now that a buzz was taking me over. I walked over to him and whispered quietly in his ear. "It smells like sex . . ." I fell over laughing again, and I saw a slight smirk on his face. Problem with me was that I couldn't stop laughing. I somehow managed to sit myself up, but I still couldn't stop my laughing. As if I had just said that to him! He's gonna think I'm an idiot now! 

Again I found myself laying down on my bed, but what I didn't notice at first was that Folken was on top of me. How he got there I didn't know, but my mind didn't care whatsoever. My laughing was beginning to die out now and I was completely focused on him. His eyes searched mine for something, but I couldn't tell what. I just smiled and closed my eyes and began to giggle again. Probably wasn't the most appropriate thing to do at the time but my happy mind couldn't think of anything else to do. Then my depressive mood came running back to me.

"You know what, I just don't care! He can be with that little whore bitch for all I care! I don't understand and maybe I don't want to!" I continued to yell with my eyes shut once again. "I just don't give a damn anymore! I-"

The next thing I knew, I felt his wet lips against mine. Funny, we were both still sopping wet from the rain, yet neither of us sought to dry ourselves off. I stopped, not knowing what to do at first, but my mind was too clouded to think of what not to do, or what was even right at the time, so I let my emotions take over and I began to kiss him back. Soon my arms were wrapped around his neck and I my back was against the bed, with Folken fully on top of me. I didn't understand why he pulled back when he did. 

"We shouldn't even be doing this, Hitomi. I'd be taking advantage of your state."

"No you wouldn't! I'm not telling you to stop, am I?" I pulled him back down to and he didn't put up an argument for about ten more minutes.

"But you and I have been drinking." 

I laughed and pulled him back down to me again. My mind needed a distraction and this seemed to be working pretty well. Dammit all to hell if he stopped now! I wasn't about to be thrown back into my fit of depression. My mind was racing as I began to untie the laces on his shirt. Folken didn't strike me as the type to do such a thing but I'd do anything to make me forget about Van right now. Anything. 

  
  


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	9. Memories Of A Feather Forgotten

Born Of The Moon

Chapter VIIII

Memories Of A Feather Forgotten  
  
  
  
  
  


"So we'll meet you there this afternoon okay?"

"And hurry it up!"  
  


I didn't blame them for rushing me like they were. I had been dragging myself around for the past few weeks after Hitomi had left. I remembered how the last time she left time hadn't moved. This time it was for me. It was dragging its sorry ass, that was for sure.   
  


I threw on my loose navy button up shirt over my while muscle shirt and was out the door. Yukari and Amano had noticed my sudden withdrawal from the world so they had decided to take me out to Tokyo for a day on them. It didn't sound that thrilling to me but I decided I should at least make an effort.   
  


I waited for Amano and Yukari at Hitomi's father's restaurant. Thank god he wasn't there. After Hitomi had left that night, her parents had held me accountable for whatever had happened. They've been trying to sue me with the disappearance of their daughter ever since, but it's gone no where. I've already been questioned by the police and investigators, and I'm quite sure the other man in the restaurant sitting a few tables behind me is a detective himself. It doesn't bother me though, because the fact is I have nothing to hide. I did nothing wrong, and even though I know what really happened, I wasn't about to explain it all to the police. I had the strangest feeling that her parents know as well, but they just want me out of her life. 

"Yuhan." I heard one of the sisters address me. It sounded more like Miyasi. "You've got some guts to come back here. Why are you even here in the first place?"

I looked up and saw Miyasi leaning right in front of me, her blond hair falling over her shoulder, and her skimpy shirt giving me a full view of her barely covered chest. I somehow managed to keep eye contact with her. "Enjoying a nice cup of coffee and waiting for Amano and Yukari."

Her eyes fell lazily and one eyebrow rose. "Sure you are. You should know that if Hitomi's father gets here you can be arrested."

"For what? Drinking a cup of good coffee and giving him some business? That's pretty shallow if you ask me."

She shrugged at me. "It's your decision." She finished as she went to serve another awaiting customer. The clock on the far wall read 2 p.m.. I couldn't understand why Amano and Yukari hadn't shown up yet. They were a half an hour late. 

"Yuhan!" I tensed a little as I heard my name being recalled. This time I knew for sure who it was. Her semi-shrill voice had left its impact on me the first night we had met. 

"If my husband comes in here and sees you, god only knows what will happen! I suggest that you leave this instant!"

Whatever. Nothing really mattered to me now anyway. The couple hadn't shown and I was bored yet again. "Fine." I left some money on the table and was on my way. I could feel two sets of eyes watching my departure. One was Hitomi's mothers, and the other was that man's who was sitting behind my table. Too bad I hadn't got a good look at him before I left.   
  


The rest of my day was spent walking around Tokyo, trying to find things to keep myself occupied. It wasn't until the evening that I found myself somewhere where I could rest for a while. It was the last place I had seen Hitomi. The track field. I felt something pull at me from the inside. I couldn't quite tell what it was, but then I found a long box to be in my back pocket with my wallet. Sighing, I pulled it out and instantly remembered what it was. The present that Hitomi had given to me. She told me to open it at a time when I had felt discouraged, right now seemed to fit that description. I really did miss her a lot. I never realized how important she was to me in my life, until now that she's gone. I've heard the line 'You don't' realize what you have until it's gone'. I've tried hard all my life to make sure that never happened to me. Now it has, and I wish I never knew the feeling. Then I remembered about the box I still held in my hand.   
  


I sat myself down on a bleacher and studied the box for about five minutes. I mean, there was nothing special about it; it was a box. Big deal. It's what was inside that scared me a little. What would she have left me in this box? It had a lot of importance to her, I knew that much. That she would leave it with me was something different, and I was quite skeptical about finding out what it was. As always, in given time my curiosity got the best of me and I slowly opened it. I could feel some sort of energy when I opened it, but it was unseen. It was overpowering, almost like the feeling love gives you. When I got the nerve to look inside the box, I found its contents to be wrapped in a navy silk cloth. As I removed it, I could see the shining from whatever was being covered with the cloth. When I took in the sight of the ivory feather, I felt that pull again. Now it was more like a tug. I knew now that it had a lot of value to her, even if the particular feather didn't belong to Van in the first place. Something was pulling away at my soul and I couldn't figure out for the life of me what it was. I placed the feather back inside the box without re-wrapping it in the silk cloth it came in. 

Leaning back against the cool surface of the metal bleachers, I closed my eyes and let my thoughts waver. I had been doing that a lot lately. Maybe a little too much. And what did I always find my thoughts drifting towards? Anyone could've guessed correctly. The girl whom I had lost to a blue pillar of light and a man with angelic wings. Of course I felt a great amount of joy for her. She was back with the people who loved her, and she loved equally in return. Although, I couldn't hold back my aching. I had lost one of the most important people in my life. Despite the fact that she probably didn't know how important she was to me, she had to know that I had and still have a strong amount of feelings for her. I'd always miss her now that she was gone.   
  


"Yuhan, sweety, are you alright?" My mother greeted me as I entered the door to my old house. I had been spending my two weeks off with my family in Tokyo. I rarely got to see them, so on my holiday break I'd usually come out to visit them for a week or so. This time, however, I had reason to stay longer. It was funny actually; my parents only lived a few streets away from Hitomi's parents. Amazingly, Hitomi and I hadn't met each other by lucky passing by one another some day, but at the end of the eighth grade for her. I was already into highschool.   
  


I gave my mother a well-forced smile and backed away to my room in the basement.   
  


Hitomi, I hope you're happy, wherever you are now. Know that my prayers will always be with you.   
  


~*~  
  


If you all didn't realize, ta daa, this chapter was on earth and from Yuhan's point of view. I missed him. He missed Hitomi. I had to write this out. And besides, he had to find her gift. I'm thankful for all of my latest reviews everyone! And to CRR, if anyone knows who this is, please inform them that I replaced all my chapters with new documents to see if that would help the problem that they describe of not being able to read past chapter four. I really don't know what the problem could be! I'm trying my best! 

Please Review, the rest of you :) You gave me the inspiration to write this chapter out quickly. 


	10. Visiting Dreams

Born Of The Moon

Chapter X

Visiting Dreams  
  
  
  


My world was a haze of darkness as I finally awoke from sleeping. As I shifted from the rather uncomfortable position I found myself in, I noticed a slight pain in my lower abdomen. When my eyes decided it was time to focus on the world around me, I could see it was early in the morning. The rain had stopped and songbirds were beginning to chirp their morning calls. 

Then I saw Folken. Memories of what had come to pass the previous night flooded my mind unwantedly, and I took in a sharp breath as the worst of it all struck me. I was drunk, and in my insensible train of thoughts . . . I had lost my virginity last night. Not to the man I loved, but to his brother. How was I . . .  
  
  
  
  
  


I quickly packed my things and went out to the stable to get Belu. I saddled her, grabbed some food for her, attached my bag to the back and in no time, we were off. Not galloping, but a simple trot. I needed to get away from everything now. Yuhan told me not to get discouraged, but what did I have left for me here? It wasn't clear at all to me. 

After traveling for a good two hours, we stopped at a river and I gave Belu some oats to eat while I sat against a tree trunk. I was still exhausted from the previous night. I was having a hard time keeping myself awake on Belu's back, but a sharp stab of pain every now and then in my lower regions woke me right back up. 

I began to cry, cradling myself around the waist. It always seemed that I messed things up while being on Gaea. I guess that could be considered an understatement now.

Without realizing it, I drifted off into what I thought was a dreamless sleep.   
  
  
  
  
  


'Hitomi . . .' A soft and almost inaudible voice spoke.

"What? Who's there?!" I thought I had fallen asleep? I looked around to be certain and it was confirmed; I was still by the lake with Belu by my side. A hand suddenly placed itself on my shoulder and I jumped, yelping. I was gently coaxed into silence and as I turned to meet my intruder, I was met with a pair of kind, dark eyes. Not Van's eyes, but darker. 

"Y-Yuhan . . ." My eyes became wet with tears yet again. I made no attempt to move as of yet. I was still in a state of semi-shock. How could he have gotten to Gaea?

'That's right, it's me.' He gave me one of his million dollar smiles and I couldn't help but crawl over and hug him. Being in his arms felt so good, even if it was a few days since I had seen him. 

"H-how long has it b-been? How long since I've been gone f-from earth?" I asked in a shaking voice. 

'Three long weeks.' He replied, running his hands up and down my back.

I pulled away to arms length from him. I noticed something as he ran his hands through my hair. It was long again for some reason. 

"But this isn't real." My hands traced down his forearms to his hands. "It's a dream, isn't it? Your memory of my appearance is wrong. My hair is short now." I met his eyes, finally. "You're not really . . . on Gaea."

His head fell lower, as did mine. 'I figured that as well. At least we're able to talk freely for some reason. How are things there?'

I put on a stern face. "Fine."

He raised both eyebrows at me. 'Well, I know a lying face when I see one. How about the truth?'

It was too true. Yuhan knew whenever I was lying, even if I was trying my very best. He could see through me like the light can see through darkness. 

"Let's just say that . . . Van's moved on."

'What?! That arrogant little shit-head! I swear to god if I was there now I'd-'

"Yuhan!" I yelled, overpowering him and scaring Belu. I took a hold of her reign and settled her down. "You aren't hearing me out." I walked Belu over to the river and let her drink some water. 

"You're going to listen to me, Yuhan, and you're not going to be angered by my words because they have truth behind them. Van and me . . . well first things first. We live on two different planets. It's been two years since we've seen each other. He's a 17 year old male." I laughed before I spoke again. "He's bound to have some . . . urges that he needs to express with another. Now that I think about it, I'm not surprised that he found someone else. He's a great guy. I knew he'd never have trouble finding another if something were to go wrong with us." I took this moment of silence to look up at Yuhan. He had an expressionless look on his face. I didn't like it. "What are you feeling right now?"

He took in a deep breath, but just sighed it all out. 'Nothing really. I'm just happy that you've figured this all out.'

"Yeah. I guess so. I've accepted his moving on. I just wish that our first meeting had 've been somewhat different."

Yuhan seemed confused. 'How did that go?'

"Uhm-" I started laughing now, blushing at the memory for some reason. "I found him on top of another woman, almost naked-"

Yuhan's short temper for the matter flared again. 'If I ever meet this guy, I swear to god-"

He stopped this time not from me cutting him off, but from the look I was giving him. "I told you, it's alright. I understand his actions and they don't bother me in the least. I think when I wake up I'm going to go to Fanelia and visit him. Our first meeting, I said some very mean things I shouldn't have. Of course I was too hurt and enraged at the time to make sense of it all before I spoke. Anyway, that's over with now."

I moved in to hug him once again. It was a crushing hug this time, one of hurt and compassion. I had never felt so close to him before. 

"Thank you for visiting me."   
  
  
  


I opened my eyes to look behind him and I saw Folken walking towards us. I hid my throbbing emotions from Yuhan as best I could as I drifted away, pointing to the older man. "Yuhan, this is Folken. Van's older brother. He's the one who came to get me."

I found it odd that Folken did not greet him. I noticed also that his metallic arm was showing once again. "Folken?" I asked, uncertainly. 

As he was about 5 feet away from us when he drew his sword at his side and sliced at Yuhan. His form was cut in half and both pieces dissipated into tiny fragments in the air. 

"Yuhan!" I cried. Why had Folken done such a thing?

"Folken, what do you think you're doing?!" I shouted at him. He didn't even seem to hear me. He slowly approached me, lifting me by the tip of his sword underneath my chin. 

'Did you enjoy yourself last night?'

The only reply I could muster was a gulp. 

'That's good, because it will be the last time you will experience the matter.'  
  
  
  
  
  


I screamed as I awoke from that dream, panting and gasping. My throat hurt from where he had sliced it in the dream. 

Why . . . what was that about? Why would Folken try to kill me?! But something about that dream had thrown me off. His metallic arm hadn't been covered. What would give him reason to uncover it?  
  


I looked around the peaceful forest. It was still silent with only the sounds of nature calling. Then something painful struck me in the back of my head. It wasn't an object, but a presence. 

'Hitomi . . .'

I instantly knew it to be Yuhan. His deathly whisper of my name had pulled me out of my trance. His presence wasn't welcoming for once. It was almost like a warning. He was trying to tell me . . . something was wrong. I had to get out of there. I had to move. Something was coming. I looked over to Belu, who seemed to be thinking the same. We had to get out of the denser part of the forest. 

'Hitomi.' This time his voice was much closer than before. It was more overpowering as well. I had to move quickly. I re-saddled Belu as rapidly as I could, and after putting my duffel bag back up, I took down my new katana blade. At least I had some form of protection for myself. I mounted Belu quickly and we started on our way. 

After ten minutes of traveling, I was still uneasy. Yuhan's presence was still with me somehow. I couldn't understand why. I found out all too soon. 

'Hitomi!' Yuhan's yell came at me from the left side so I immediately dodged, it being my first reaction. I felt something pierce my left arm from the side as soon as I had moved, and when I turned to see what had happened, I saw Folken hovering behind me. His sword was drawn and was stained with some of my blood, his wings were out and his metallic arm was free. I saw something in his eyes. Something I recognized all to well. 

I remembered the first time I had been on the floating fortress. I had seen Van shouting at Folken, who was standing above him. I saw the hate in his eyes. The longing for a better world. 

"I've come for you, Hitomi."

Remembering something Van had said to me while training once, attack while you still have the chance. Even if you miss, you have to try, so I did. Fortunately I didn't miss. I somehow managed to drive my blade through his wing. Belu was becoming scared, so as soon as I was sure that he wouldn't be able to follow, I clipped her sides and we headed for Fanelia at full speed.   
  
  
  
  
  


I was lucky. We weren't that far from Fanelia in the first place. My arm was losing lots of blood from the wound Folken had given me and I was becoming light headed. my shirt was stained from the arm and all the way down to my pants. The wound didn't seem deep to me, but I had to see for sure. I stuck my index finger into the wound quickly because I knew it would hurt. It had almost reached the bone. 

Silent tears were falling down my face now. I didn't notice that until I tasted their saltiness in my mouth as I licked my dry lips. I could see the castle gates from where Belu and I were, and her galloping slowed down a little. It was around that time when I was starting to loose consciousness at times. As we got to the gate, I saw the guards. They were the same two who had been on duty the day before. Thank god, they would probably recognize me. 

One of them shouted for someone, and I saw a smaller man take Belu's reigns and he lead us to the castle quickly. Outside waiting was none other than the king, Van, and that woman I had seen before. His eyes widened at my sight, and that was the last thing I remembered before passing out.   
  
  
  
  
  


~*~  
  


Scene comparison; If any of you reading this and have seen Behind Enemy Lines, if you happen to remember the part where Chris was in the forest and he was asleep, then Stackhouse whispered his name to him to wake him up after his dream, that's the kind of effect I wanted for that scene with Yuhan warning Hitomi. 

Besides Planeswalker, Who here can tell me what's going on, eh?!?! 

I'd like some lengthy reviews for this chapter. I wanna read your exact reactions cause I know some of them will be priceless. Bye ya'll! Thanks for the reviews so far!  
  


~E*A~


	11. Meeting Similarities

Born Of The Moon

Chapter XI

Meeting Similarities

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


"Hitomi . . ."

My sighs and moans were barely heard. Someone was calling for me. 

"Yuhan . . . ?" I asked, insecure about the reply I would receive. I was weak in this place. I couldn't tell exactly where I was but wherever it was, I couldn't find the strength in me to move. 

"Hitomi . . ."

I was floating in darkness once again. This seemed to be a reoccurring thing lately. It was beginning to anger me. That, and the fact that every time my voice was spoken, it was a different voice. The first time had been Yuhan, the second, Folken . . . 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


"Hitomi?"

"V-Van?" I was certain now that I was out of my dream world and coming to my senses. Thank the lords for that. I opened my lazy eyes to a dark room, and to see Van sitting over me with a blood-covered cloth in hand. I groaned at the sight of it and looked away. He noticed this. 

"Hitomi, it's alright. Your arm will heal and the wound is closing as we speak. You needn't worry." I could feel something burning on my arm, and I turned to see it was some form of medication. The stinging sensation subsided quickly and I saw that the wound now looked merely raw. I grimaced. Then I finally met Van's gazing eyes. Those eyes spoke wonders to me, and I could see that he had barely changed since the last time I had seen him. On the inside, that is. I could tell his hair was slightly longer than before, and his form had toned up quite a bit. He had grown into a hansom man and a mighty looking king and warrior. However, inside his eyes, I could still see the soul of the spirited, thick-sculled teenage boy whom I met those few years passed. 

"Van." I reached my one functioning arm up to gesture for a hug. He accepted it, though still unsure of my sentiments towards him. "Thank you." I whispered. 

"For what?" he asked. 

"For being who you are."

I drew away from the embrace and sat myself up. "And I'm also sorry for all those things I said to you yesterday. It was uncalled for and completely rude. I . . . I acted too quickly without thinking."

He smiled at me, taking my hands in his own. "I accept your apology. In fact, I didn't blame you for a second for what you said. It was my fault for not telling you. I had no right to keep it from you."

I was forced to let out a gasp of air suddenly, for my wound wasn't fully closed and it had begun to sting at my sudden movement. Van decided to close it off from air entirely for now. He wrapped it up perfectly in a while bandage. "Is it too tight?" 

"No, not at all." I sighed, being able to bend my arm slightly now and not have to face as much pain. I noticed under his wine-colored shirt, a golden chain. I went to pull it up but he backed away a little. I raised an eyebrow at him and continued. As I pulled up on the chain, I found my pink pendant to be attached to it still. "Well," I laughed. "At least you didn't lose it."

I looked over my bandage once again. He had done this to me. Folken. 

"Has Folken come to the city yet?" I asked Van, not knowing if it was proper to ask him or not. 

"No word has come yet, so I'm guessing he hasn't."

"Van! I-" The brown haired woman I had seen in my visions before had just come storming into the room, but once she caught sight of me she went totally mute. "I was just informed that Lord Folken came to the castle gates earlier, but he had no intention of entering the city once he was told that the Lady Hitomi was here."

Van nodded his head at the woman. "Thank you, Ann."

She walked over to me and knelt down beside my bed, just as Van was. She had a large smile on her face and her blue eyes shone with admiration. I paused my thoughts. What? For me?

"It's an honor to finally meet you, Miss Hitomi. Van has told me never-ending stories about all the times you and he spent together here on Gaea. It so wonderful to hear that our savior has returned to the land." Her head fell down before me. I was almost speechless. Van was just smiling away at me. 

"I . . . I thank you."

Her hand shot up to her mouth instantly. "Please! Forgive me my rudeness!" She stood and bowed down. "I am Anastasia De Fanel, Queen of Fanelia."

Now it was my turn to smile at him. "You seem to have chosen a very kind and beautiful wife, Van."

He stood beside her now. "I met her while on business in Asturia. My advisors tried to make me choose a wife of royal blood, but I refused."

"If you will excuse me." She said to us. "I must be on my way to check up on the Lady Merle."

Without another word, she was out the door. There was an awkward silence between Van and myself, but he decided to break it. 

"You wouldn't believe . . ." He started, but didn't finish until I coaxed him to. "How much she resembles you. Not in the physical manner, but personality wise. It's unbelievable. She reminds me of you so much, that was why I couldn't bear to let her go. It was almost like having you around here again." He refused to make eye contact with me now. 

"It honors me to hear you say that." I turned his chin so that he would be facing me. "King Van Slanzar De Fanel. So what was wrong with Merle?"

Van sighed. "She was roaming the forest yesterday when some men ambushed her and she fell down a small hill. She wasn't badly hurt but enough to be bed stricken for a day. She recovering well though. I'm sure she'll be in to see you soon."

As I began to look around, I noticed that my head was starting to feel light and my vision was becoming spotted with tiny flecks of light. I raised a hand to my face and closed my eyes. "My head doesn't even feel like it's attached to my neck."

His sigh this time was one of recognition. "Your wound lost a lot of blood. You haven't slept nearly long enough to recover all your strength. Rest now. I'll be back with some food and cold water later, alright?"

I nodded and laid back down. When I opened my eyes to watch Van leave, all I saw above me was Folken. I screamed and jumped off the other side of the bed and Van came running up to me. "Hitomi?! What's the matter? What happened?" I opened my eyes this time to see that Folken wasn't in the room, it had just been my imagination. My breathing was more broken now as I sat myself up, Van aiding me. "What did you see?"

"I saw . . ." I took in a deep breath and laid myself back down. "Nothing. Just . . . shadows."

He rested the back of his hand on my cheek and smiled. "Alright. I'll be back later to check on you."

  
  


Van left the room and I started to let my thoughts wander. The truth was I didn't want to fall asleep, and usually when this feeling of being unsettled was in me, I never slept. Unfortunately, because of my loss of blood, it was becoming harder and harder for me to think and keep myself conscious. I didn't want to fall asleep because of my fear of dreaming again. I didn't want to see Folken in my dreams, nor did I want to think about it at the current time. I just wanted a dreamless and peaceful sleep. I wished for fate to leave me alone. 

  
  


It was a good two hours later when Van returned to my room to wake me up.

"Hitomi? Are you okay?" I heard his distant voice say as he nudged my shoulder. I opened my eyes slowly, scared of what I might see. Thank the gods it was Van. "I'm fine, why?"

"You were moaning and tossing in your sleep. Did you have a bad dream?" He had a cold cloth in hand and I took it from him, placing it on my burning forehead. I thought for a moment and realized that I had no memory of dreaming. I always remembered if I had dreamed, even if I didn't remember exactly what it was. I had no recollection of any dreams.

"N-no. I didn't dream at all." My energy had returned somewhat to me now and I felt good enough to walk around. I saw the sad look on Van's face and wondered what could've been wrong. I figured what I said next would cheer him up. "Van, I'd like to talk with your wife. She seems really nice."

I could tell that he wanted to let his jaw drop at my words, but he held himself back from doing so. I laughed, and he escorted me to her room. 

  
  
  
  
  
  


It was also a dark room, I noticed when we entered. Over by the single window, I saw Anastasia and a grown Merle.

"Hitomi! They didn't lie, it really is you!" Merle sat up on her bed but I could still see that she lacked the energy to do much more. Her arms extended to me and I embraced her. 

"It's so good to see you, Merle!" I looked her over. Her hair was a little longer and flowing now. It wasn't as chunky as I remember. It now had an almost silk look to it. Her tufts of fur were almost gone, showing her growing maturity. Her eyes seemed to hold more wisdom in them now as well. 

"I'm sure you've already met Ann?" Merle gestured towards the blue-eyed girl. 

I nodded, smiling as best I could. "I actually came to speak with her, but having you here makes no difference either." 

Anastasia seemed surprised by the overall way I was acting. I could understand why though. She probably had the thought in mind that I would hate her because she married Van and not me. Well, I was going to prove that wrong. I had the most off-the-wall question that was probably going to throw her off so bad . . . 

"So tell me, was your wedding beautiful?"

"Uhm . . ." I could see the questioning in her eyes and a blush crept up to her face as she broke eye contact with me. God, was I making her nervous? Then a smile made its way onto her features. "It was beautiful. Everything I had imagined it to be and much more."

"Were there roses?" I asked. At my wedding, I had always hoped for a certain color of rose.

"Yes. Red and white ones to be exact. It was like a dream."

This was too scary. Just as Van had said, she was so much like me! But, she was looking at me now like I was hiding something. Her eyes were narrowed in my direction. 

"Would you care to take a walk with me around the castle? I'm sure you haven't seen all of it yet, and I've been told that you haven't returned since the Destiny War. The castle has undergone many changes since then."

I agreed and we left Merle to sleep.

  
  
  
  
  
  


"The truth is I hadn't even seen the entire castle during my last visit either. I was escorted to a room in the east end, and after that there was Van's coronation ceremony. Then . . ." I couldn't find it in myself to finish my phrase. 

"I understand. It must've been a horrible sight to see." 

There was an awkward silence shared between us. She decided to break it. 

"I want to thank you, Hitomi."

"For what?"

Her eyes fell to the floor as she began to speak her reason. "Because . . . I was expecting you to, well, hate me. I could tell that you and Van had a very strong bond. I didn't want to break it so I kept my distance from him for a long time." She took this moment to sigh, but I urged her to continue. "It was one day when I was visiting Allen and his younger sister Selena, that I met Van for the second time. The first had been on business. My family had known Allen's before I was even born so we had become good friends over the years. I was a messenger for King Aston for a short time and that was how I met Van the first time."

We sat down in a large room I could only recognize as the dinning hall. It was beautifully decorated all around with a gold wire border with many designs; too many to describe. The centerpiece was a marvelous chandelier with what could only be diamonds decorating it. It had to of held more than 30 candles in it. The reason Anastasia had stopped her story was more than likely because of my gaping jaw. I recovered from the sight, apologized, and pressed her to continue. 

"It was Blue, 14th moon. We were getting some of the worst rain, hail and thunderstorms I've seen in my entire life. Even some of the elders spoke of the intensity to me. When I arrived in Fanelia I could barely see where I was going so I dismounted my horse and led him step by step with me. It took me a good half an hour to find my way to the castle and when I got inside, I passed out from fatigue. When I awoke, I saw Van sitting across the room from me, sleeping. I thought to myself, he stayed here? To watch over me? I couldn't believe it at first. A king was worried about me? It seemed like one big joke. Because of the weather and my becoming ill from the cold, I was granted a week long stay by King Aston. Van grew on me and it was so very hard to say goodbye." 

"I know all too well what that feels like." I interrupted her. 

"I can understand that. So then, about a week and a half later, Van had made the long journey to Palas. I was overjoyed to see him, but I didn't let that show in front of King Aston. It surprised me one night that Van pulled him aside and spoke with him in private. The next day, I found that he had asked to take me back to Fanelia with him, and I think you can tell how things progressed from there. It's like fairytale to me now. I can't believe I'm a Queen for one thing."

She finally lifted her eyes back up to face mine. "And I can't believe that you don't hate me for marrying Van. I thought you'd be resentful towards me and never speak to me. I was nervous earlier when I first met you. Now I know why Van loved you so much. He still does too. You're a wonderful person from what I can see."

She was probably set off by the look I was giving her. 

"Did I say something to upset you?"

"Oh, no!" I laughed. It's just that . . . Van said you're so much like me, it scares him. I can see what he means now."

A servant appeared and offered us some wine. We both accepted. I wasn't planning on getting drunk for the third time on Gaea but the offer was all too tempting right now. 

  
  
  
  


~*~

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Sorry for the dull content in this chapter. After writing chapter 10, for some reason it took a lot of time just to get this chapter out of me. Well, here it is in all it's glory. As you can see, it's actually quite lengthy paragraph wise. 

I want to thank all my reviewers! You know who you all are, you're keeping me going with this. It'll pick back up soon, I promise. I'd also still like to hear any predictions you may have! You never know, it could change something I have planned in the plot already!

Also just a couple of notes

  
  


First, to anyone who's confused beyond belief right now, good! You're supposed to be! Complain all you like ^^

  
  


Second, to Aya the White Dragon, Sora's Folktale is an awesome song, and at some parts I happen to agree with you. 

  
  


Third, To Ai-Chan. Your reviews make me laugh every time I read them Keep it up ^^

  
  


Fourth, to everyone else who's threatening me with death if I do not continue, I won't as long as you guys don't stop reviewing! 

  
  


Fifth; To the author Ex-Angel, you had better post the next chapter of *Love Run Deep* very soon. Like, as in now. 

  
  


Sixth; Enter Anastasia. Yes people, this will be the first fic that I've seen where Van doesn't have a psycho bitch wife that's out to get Hitomi, or that he doesn't want to be married to! It's a miracle! So I had to develop her character somewhat. Maybe I'll write a mini-sequel about Van meeting her . . . O.o.....ideas.....

  
  


I think that's all! *rolls eyes* is anyone still reading these...lol. Till next time!

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	12. As Past Dictates

Born Of The Moon

Chapter XII

As Past Dictates  
  
  
  


  
  


Van wasn't expecting what he saw when he entered the dinning hall. I guessed that seeing the two women he loved the most, talking to each other and making no sense - holding a wine glass each with one bottle of vino already gone and a healthy amount of the second missing, was a little too much for him to handle in a moment. 

"Hey Van!" I laughed. I wasn't totally drunk, but Anastasia was. She had drank much more than I had. 

"Uhm . . ." He said uncertainly. I could tell he was slightly nervous. "Hello . . ." He gave me a sly glance as he picked up his wife and carried her out of the dinning hall most unwillingly. I grabbed my glass and followed. 

"Hitomi, please wait for me on your balcony. I'll be with you soon." 

Van had shown me back to the room I was in before and went to lay Anastasia to rest. She had used up most of her energy putting up a fight against Van carrying her, and she was almost completely out of it now. 

"Okay."  
  
  
  


I was hunched over the balcony and my glass in my hand. I was faced with a setting sun over the great hills of Fanelia. The sky was painted with many blending shades of red, yellow and orange. The night sky was barely beginning to show above me with the navy blues of darkness. I raised my glass.

"To whatever's worth being here for." I offered myself a toast and threw back the rest of my drink. It was then that I heard footsteps behind me. 

"Hitomi, it looks like you can't be trusted around here, now can you? I leave you alone with her for a single night and you get her drunk far beyond the point she's ever been before." Van started, laughing in the process.

"Well, if you're trying yo sound upset, you're not doing a very good job of it." I replied to him. He joined me in my leaning over the stone balcony. His head was down in thought. 

"What's on your mind?" I asked. "Beside the fact that your wife is passed out in your room."

He laughed quietly once more. "I wasn't going to ask, but who made that wound on your arm?"

I eyed my bandaged forearm. It hadn't hurt until I was reminded about it. 

"Folken did."

I could see Van staring at me with wide eyes from the corner of my own. "You're . . . you're kidding me, right? Folken attacked you and gave you this wound?"

I was barely able to meet his eyes. The pain in his voice was almost too much. He didn't want to believe it but he had to know the truth. 

"Yes."

His head immediately went down and his eyes shut tightly. His fists were clenched so tightly it looked as if they were going to break. "Van-" I took his hands in my own. "I don't want to believe it as much as you. I'm sorry, but it's true. But . . ."

His eyes finally reopened and he tried to search me. "But what?"

"It's just that when I was with him all the times before . . . last night . . . he- he always had his mechanical arm covered. He didn't when he attacked me. I don't know if that means anything, but also, his eyes were . . ." I paused for a while. I didn't want to say what I had to say. I knew that it would just hurt Van further, but he pleaded for me to go on. "His . . . he . . . h-he had the eyes . . . of the Strategos."

Van's hands withdrew from mine and clenched again. His eyes shut tightly in an attempt to contain his anger and confusion. "I think I will bid you goodnight Hitomi. I have some thinking to do. But a question first. Folken . . . he didn't accompany you to the castle the other day, correct?"

I nodded. 

"Do you have any idea where he went? Did he tell you?"

"Uhm . . ." I tried to remember what Folken had said to me. I was on cloud nine that afternoon because I was going to see Van, but my memory didn't let me down just yet. "I'm pretty sure he said he was just going to take care of some business. That's all I remember."

"Alright. Try to get some sleep, okay?" He tried to smile. 

"I'll try."  
  
  
  


After ten minutes had past since Van departure, I started to walk around my room. I wouldn't have called it pacing because I wasn't walking in a distinct line or circle around something, I was just . . . walking. I decided to roam around the castle instead of my room. It was getting boring in there. Thanks to Anastasia's little tour earlier, I didn't get myself lost. 

I found myself wandering down a corridor I hadn't been down earlier. There wasn't any guards, so I decided to let myself into the room at the end of the hall. It took more strength than I would've liked to open the large door just by pulling on a single metal ring, and I ended up straining my hurt arm in the process. None the less, I managed to open the door. Once inside, I closed the door behind myself. It took a few minutes for my eyes to adjust to the lack of light in the room. The air was cold and thick in here, and the only sources of light were four torches at the four corners of the room. Needless to say the room was rather large and the torches did almost no good. However, they did give off enough light for me to see what was in the center of the room. Something that had played an important role in my past here. Something that had helped recreate this new world of Gaea. Something I wish I hadn't stumbled upon. Escaflowne. 

I walked along side it, remembering all the times I had been carried by its hands. By Van's hands, really. If it wasn't for Escaflowne, I'd of been dead more than once now. The same with Van. He saved me when I fell. He saved me when my heart stopped. Then again, I saved him the first time I met him. I didn't even know who he was. Then when he had died after killing all the Dragon Slayers. I went and helped him. Why hadn't I . . . 

"Hitomi, what are you doing in here?"

I jumped at the sound of another voice. I searched the room quickly and didn't see anyone. 

"Who's there?"

"Up here." I now recognized the voice to be Merle's, and she was sitting up on Escaflowne's knee. 

After helping me up, we sat together and talked. 

"Can't sleep either, huh?" Merle laughed as I sat on Escaflowne's right arm. 

"Not a wink. Yet, anyway. I have a feeling I'll be able to sleep soon. I've just got a lot on my mind right now."

Even in the dim light, I saw her flick something at me. I was fortunate enough to catch it. I examined the small gold coin. I snapped it back at her. "I don't know what that is but I don't want it." I laughed. 

"Around here if someone throws a coin at you after saying you have a lot on your mind, it means to tell them about it." Merle said quietly. 

"Oh." I blushed, slightly embarrassed. "Well, I was going to ask your opinion anyway. I don't need money for it. I just told Van something I think I shouldn't have and now he's upset."

"What did you tell him?" Merle asked, giving me her full attention at the mention of Van's name. 

"That Folken was the one who attacked me earlier. I was running from him, but I managed to injure his wing with my own sword so he was unable to continue his pursuit. Something was different about him though. From the last memories I had of him, he was a gentle soul. His voice was soft and caring. His eyes were warm and welcoming. After I left his cabin to come back here to apologize to Van, I had a dream. I was with a man I knew on earth and I were talking with each other, then Folken appeared. His metallic hand held a sword, and he attacked my friend with it. Although it was just a dream, I woke breathless from where he had cut my throat in my dream. I decided it was best not to stay where I was and just as I had begun to move again, he . . . he attacked me. His voice was much deeper and had an almost evil edge to it. His eyes were cold and unforgiving-looking. I couldn't understand what I had done to him to anger him that much. Not after what had happened the night before-- uhm! So what should I do, Merle?"

My last few words were so rushed I doubted she understood what I had said. I saw an eyebrow raise. "What did you do the night before that makes you so certain about his anger?" 

I walked out of the room as quickly as I could. 

"Nothing."  
  


I walked back to my room in complete silence. No thoughts were running through my mind and I liked it like that. 

Comparing this time to the last time I was on Gaea, I'd say this one was more stressful. Too much was being thrown at me to deal with and it was really starting to piss me off. What exactly was wrong with Folken anyway? I didn't want to believe that he was the one who attacked me. Maybe it was just my imagination. It's been known to be a little wild on Gaea. At least, from what my past dictates. I had to go back to see Folken. There had to be a reasonable explanation for what happened. I might be acting truly on impulse once again, but I had to be sure. I grabbed my bag from my room and headed for the stables to find Belu. I had to know, one way or another. 

Out in the stables, I met up with the watch guard. He was hesitant to let me go, but after I told him I had Van's permission, there was no stopping him from letting me go.   
  
  
  
  
  


The entire way there I couldn't stop picturing Folken's eyes in my mind. They were so . . . threatening. It hurt to see them like that again. Though I barely knew Folken from before, it hurt so very much. When I could just barely see the outline of Folken's cabin, I stopped Belu in her tracks. I stared at the cabin for more than ten minutes. Should I go back? Should I be going back to see him? Will he even be there? Will he be the same as before? I had my sword at my side just in case. I didn't know how to properly use a sword, but some of my great-grandfathers were excellent swordsmen. Thank the Lord, I had to have some of their talent somewhere in me. I was able to defend myself against Folken once before luckily. I had to be careful this time. 

My courage got the best of me and I found myself trotting towards the cabin. Belu seemed to be getting happier as we approached. She probably wanted to see Naru and Folken again. I heard a loud rustle in the bush behind me and I turned swiftly to see what it could've been. I was upset to find nothing. Was I being followed? I grabbed the handle of my sword quickly incase something or someone popped out suddenly. Nothing came as I watched my back. I sighed loudly, closing my eyes. It was probably just my imagination again. I turned myself around and snapped on Belu's reigns but she refused to move. I opened my eyes and who should I see standing in front of Belu but Folken. 

"Hitomi . . ."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


~*~  
  


Well how did you all like this chapter. *sigh* I know I know it was kinda boring and uneventful but the next chapter will have something, I swear. I like to build up to things, can't you tell?

And just a note to Sakura, wasn't it just a little obvious after chapter seven when we found Van bed with another woman that this wasn't a Van/Hitomi fic? It couldn't have been that bad if you read on to chapter eleven ^^  
  


R&R! I'll need something to work by now that school starts in like......two days! God dammit it seems to me like the summer just started. *sigh*


	13. Reflecting Shadows

Born Of The Moon

Chapter XIII

Reflecting Shadows

  
  
  
  
  
  


I wanted to believe what I was seeing, yet a part of me didn't. In front of me stood Folken. It wasn't that hard of a concept to grasp. I dismounted Belu and slowly approached him. I knew he could sense my great amount of hesitation, but he made no actions to move. As I now stood directly in front of him, staring into his eyes, I could see something. It's what was missing when he attacked me. The innocence about him. The innocence he had when he was Folken Lacour De Fanel, and not the Strategos. He was wearing the same attire I had found him in the first time I saw him since returning. All black. 

I traced my fingertips up him arms, over his shoulder and upward to his face. He was real, that much was confirmed to me. He wasn't making any motion to move, so he wasn't in that much of an uncomfortable state. Was it really him? Was this man who had attacked me yesterday morning? It couldn't have been. This was Folken Fanel. 

"Hitomi . . ." He repeated my name. 

I could only respond by looking at him. No words were coming to mind right now. Nothing I could say seemed fitting to the situation. So many emotions were running through me. Hate and compassion. Fear, but trust. Lust, yet disgust. What was I . . .

The next thing I knew, I was in his arms hugging him like I've never hugged anyone before in my life. "Folken! I don't want to believe it! I can't be true! I'll never believe it!" I lost the strength in my knees and fell to the forest floor, sobbing into his shirt. "Never . . ."

He returned my hug after we had fallen, giving it just as much force as I was giving him. 

"I'm sorry." 

I've never heard such sincerity in a man's voice in my entire life. He . . . he knew what he did? "Although you probably don't want to hear it, there's a perfect explanation for it."

I looked up to him with tear filled eyes, not believing once again what I was hearing. 

I nodded. "But what are you doing up at this hour?"

"I couldn't sleep knowing what I did to you. I've felt horrible ever since then. Do you want to go inside and I'll explain it to you?"

I gripped onto him tightly. There was no way I was getting out of this hug. "No. You can tell me right here." 

He sighed. "Alright. Some of the herbs I bought at the market yesterday were rotted. The thing was that you can't tell just by looking at them. I forgot to check them over the proper way and while you were in you room for a while, I made a quick mixture that is used to calm people and bring out the good in them. Because of the rotten herbs, it had a different effect. Just by smelling the aroma of it, it brings out the worst in people."

He tried to look at my eyes but I refused him the access. "The worst in me is the Strategos from long ago. Hitomi, I had no idea that this would happen. Please know that I never wanted or intended to hurt you. I disposed of the mixture when I returned yesterday, and I made sure I wouldn't take in any of its sent. I . . . I ask for your forgiveness. I know it's a lot to ask, but I beg of you."

We sat in silence for a few minutes before I pulled back a little from our embrace. "Do you remember what I told you when you were in Palas after Asturia took you in?"

He didn't give me an answer, so I concluded that he wanted to hear it again. 

"I told you that without trust, people will only become separated. I trusted you so that you would trust me back, even though it might not have been apparent. Do you still see that trust in me?"

He took a moment before smiling. "Yes. I do."

Folken drew me back into our hug. 

"Then you should know that you've already been forgiven."

  
  
  
  


We didn't talk much after that. We were both exhausted from lack of sleep, though on my part it was still more or less from lack of blood. While walking with him, I got that feeling I had when I was with him the other night. Not the feeling of love, needless to say. It wasn't love. It was something else . . . Trust? Undeniable trust? Either way I couldn't quite place my finger on it so I dismissed the thought. Next, I found myself in my guest bed with Folken. His arms were wrapped around my waist tightly, as though if he were to let me go, he'd loose me forever. My head was now resting against his chest, and I was crying silent tears. 

  
  


~*~

  
  


I was woken from my sleep by the loud sound of my ringer. I fumbled to pick up the receiver of my phone. "H-hello?"

"Hitomi! My god, it only took me five tries to wake you this time! I think we're breaking a record here! Get up lazy or we're going to be late for breakfast, alright? I'll pick you up in ten minutes so be ready!"

I made as assortment of 'Uhm' and 'uurg . . .' noises, but none seemed to have clued Yukari in yet. 

"Yuki, where are we going?" I said, the sounds of sleep still hanging in my voice. 

"You're telling me you don't remember?! Were you drunk at the club last night or something? We've got a double date today, girl! Now get ready, Amano and Yuhan are expecting us there soon! Later!"

I heard the loud sound of her receiver crashing down as she hung up. I sat myself up and ran my hands through my shortened hair. I laughed as I remembered the moment in which I let the blade slice through my hair. Then a thought returned to me. Wait . . A double date? With Yuhan?!

  
  


I got up and staggered over to the bathroom. It seemed much too early to be awake. It felt unhealthy. After I showered and dressed myself, I tied up my hair in two spriggy ponytails and put on a bit of makeup. The loud knocking on my apartment door scared me half to death. 

I could hear Yukari laughing and calling out for me from behind the door. 

"You have a key you idiot!" I yelled back at her. 

In a moment the door was open and Yuki, with Amano and Yuhan trailing behind her, waltzed in. 

"Are you ready yet? I told you to hurry!"

I sighed and grabbed a bottle of water, giving her a "no kidding" look. "Well that part wasn't obvious." I uncapped the top and took in a large gulp. 

"Come on!" she said, latching herself to my arm and pulling me out the door. She barely even gave me a chance to lock it. 

  
  


The overview of the day's plan was spouted at me through Yukari's shrill-toned voice. First we were going out for breakfast on her, then we were heading for the mall to pick out new outfits for the formal dance that the club was holding tonight. Then Yuhan was treating us to a free lunch at the sushi bar, and then we'd separate into pairs, being the men and the women, to get prepared for the night at around four-thirty. It sounded easy enough. As we were walking up to the location Yukari had chosen for breakfast, she noted my hair and became very amused. 

"Hitomi! Your hair looks so cute! I love it! What's with the sudden change of interest?"

"Yeah?" Yuhan agreed, tugging on my two ponytails from behind. I let out a shriek and spun around to meet his eyes, which were now sparkling with happiness. 

"No change of interest Yuki, I just thought I'd try something different. So tell me, Yuhan," I said as I grabbed a rather large chunk of his hair and pulled. "How do you like having your hair pulled on, eh?!"

"Hey hey!" Amano came in to separate the two of us before it could go any farther. "Come on, let's go eat peacefully. I'm sure we're all hungry, right? How about we don't make a scene."

I moved to pull on Yuhan's hair again but Yuki caught me. Her eyes told me 'no'. I huffed in defeat as we entered the restaurant. 

  
  


Our meal was spent talking about our summers so far. Yuhan had received a raise at work and was basking in the extra cash he was making with his hours. Amano was talking about the studies he and Yukari were going to take up in America next year. They had decided that after another year at college studying ancient architects, that they were going to broaden the horizon of their studies in America. Needless to say, Yuhan and I backed them up on their decision all the way. It was where their hearts were. I, on the other hand, didn't have much to say for myself. 

"I think I'm officially declaring this as my summer of relaxation. And I still have two more months to enjoy!" We all raised our glasses for a toast that I had offered. "To the four of us, and that we may go far in life and achieve all of our goals." We clinked our glasses and downed our drinks as breakfast came. 

  
  


Our shopping had taken a good portion of the morning and afternoon. We were still full from breakfast so we decided to have a snack at the mall just to tide us over. The guys had no problem finding their tuxes- the moral dilemma of it all was for Yuki and me to find our dresses. Oh boy was it ever fun. But fun with women also means time consuming. 

It was when we came upon a store at the end of the mall that I knew it had to be the shop that withheld my dress. I told Amano, Yukari and Yuhan to go on without me to find her a dress and that I'd meet them at Yuhan's truck in forty-five minutes. They were reluctant, Yuki for the most part, but I got Amano to pull her away. Yuhan was the last to leave after looking over the store. 

"Give me an idea of what color corsage to get you please, Hitomi." He laughed. 

"Emerald green would probably work." 

  
  


I had never seen this store before in my life. Perhaps it had just opened? I didn't know but I didn't care much either; it had some of the most beautiful clothes, mostly with a medieval theme to them. After looking upon racks and racks of artistically designed dresses, I was immediately drawn to one that hung in the corner of the room all by its lonesome. It was a dark forest green with tiny diamond-like gems on it. The top was controlled and it fanned out into silky waves just above the waist. The upper parts were decorated with seed beads in delicate patterns that were woven in every which way, but not to the point of ever fully covering the soft material beneath. 

It looked too perfect to be.

"Excuse me ma'am, could I try this on?"

The old woman wasted no time in assisting me when seeing a sale. My eyes must've told her this dress had already stolen my heart and that price was no object. 

I must've stayed in that change room looking at myself for a good ten minutes. I never thought that a dress could look this . . . good . . . on me. I didn't like wearing dresses very much. I usually only did when the occasion called for it. Seeing myself in this dress just reminded me of . . . reminded me of . . . 

"Are you alright in there?" I heard a soft knock come from outside. I was shook from my thoughts by her voice. 

"Uhm, yeah. I'm good."

"How does the dress look?"

I huffed inwardly. Like she seriously cared. She was a senile old woman looking to make a pretty profit from my purchase. 

"It's perfect." I answered her. I decided to go out onto the mini-platform with mirrors surrounding it to get a better look at myself. I could almost hear the woman smile as I walked by, not taking a glance at her expression. I heard someone else in the store let out a small sigh as well. I laughed to myself and looked into the mirrors. It'd be perfect if I had a pair of matching shoes, a small purse and a sash to go with it now. Those would be the next items on my list. I felt hands come down on my shoulders and I looked into the mirror in front of myself, blushing. 

"You look beautiful." 

Auburn eyes pierced mine and I let out a shriek as I saw Van standing behind me. I turned around quickly, wanting to see him, but all I was faced with were Amano's dark green eyes looking very worried. I sighed a long breath.

"Are you alright?"

I sighed again. "Just fine. I just saw some shadows or something. Uhm, where's Yuki and Yuhan?" I asked as I went back into the change room to get my usual clothes back on.

"Yuki refused to let me see the dress she had chosen so she made Yuhan stay with her and sent me off to find you. I figured you'd still be here. That dress is really nice."

"Thanks." I smiled, taking it up to the front desk. 

  
  


The woman rung it up with a broad smile on her face. "I was waiting for the day when this dress would find someone as beautiful and as wise a person as you to come buy it. It was modeled after a dress a woman of legend wore."

I saw Amano's jaw drop a few feet closer to the ground as he saw the price. "Uhm, Hitomi? Do you have enough for that?"

I raised an eyebrow at him and gave the woman her money. "Do you happen to remember who wore it?" I asked as we exited the store.

"If my memory serves me right, I think it was the longest reigning Queen of a place called Fanelia . . ."

  
  
  
  
  
  


After Amano and I had left the store, I hadn't said a word. I have found nice purse and shoes easily, and I already had the perfect sash at home to match the dress. Yukari came running up to me as Yuhan and her exited the mall to see Amano and myself. 

"Oh my gosh, I can't wait for you to see my dress, Hitomi! I got a good deal on it too! Let me peek at yours!" she beamed, pulling out the side of the bag to look inside. "Ooh! Looks expensive!"

"Shut up, Yuki!" I looked over to Yuhan who was staring at me with a dazed sort of expression. 

"What, do I have something on my face?" I asked him. "Come on, let's go. I've got to get ready."

  
  


I wasn't sure exactly what was going to happen tonight, if anything. However, if something did happen, I knew it would be a big change for me. Something significant. 

  
  


~*~

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Confused? Good, that means that you're following this story properly. Sorry for the lack of uploading. School can kiss my ass. Anyway, I would've jumped right into writing what happens that night, but I've felt bad for not uploading in a while and I thought you all wouldn't mind if I stopped here for now. All reviews and reviewers are appreciated as always. Thanks for your support everyone. And a sorry goes out to all who thought this was a Van X Hitomi fic. We'll see how things go. 

PS. I have some little mini chibi sketches of Hitomi and Yukari's dresses, so if anyone's curious as to what I had in mind, e-mail me and I'll send you the scans I have. 

  
  


~Elemental Angel~


	14. Dreamers Reality

Born Of The Moon

Chapter XVI

Dreamers Reality

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Though Yukari and I were in the same house getting ready, you would've never known it. We were never in the same room for more than ten seconds. It would appear rather amusing to anyone who was watching. 

"Yuki! Have you seen my shoes?!"

Her movements in the other room ceased as the thought. "Under your bed I think!"

I glanced under my bed and there was the box. "Thanks!" I called. I was pretty much ready to leave, as was she. My dress was just the perfect length for the shoes I had on- it just barely grazed the ground. My see-through sash matched perfectly, the purse I had was the right color, and the gold necklace my mother had given to me on my birthday a few days ago matched completely. My hair was done in a natural way, hanging just above my eyes. I had two golden clips holding the sides higher up, and tiny gold ball earrings to add decor. My necklace was a tiny gold heart locket with two pink gold hearts on the front. I didn't have a picture inside of it yet, however. My makeup was simple- traditional mascara, darkish brown lipstick, but the main attraction was no doubt my eyes. They had taken me forever to get just perfect. I had a thin line of forest green eyeliner along the top of my eyelids, and the rest was covered with sparkly gold eyeshadow. Upon Yukari's insistence, I also had black eyeliner on to aid and further outline my eyes. I had sparkles all over my chest and cheeks, and just as I had sprayed on some of my favorite perfume, Yukari walked in, attaching her own earrings. Then she dropped her fatal nuclear bomb of knowledge. 

"You know, I was talking to Amano before they left when Yuhan was in the truck and you were already in here." She said, taking a seat on my bed. 

"Oh yeah?" I replied, lacing up the back of my shoe. "And?"

"He told me something interesting . . ." she trailed off with an evil smile on her face. 

I raised an eyebrow in her direction. "What . . .?"

She laughed and focused her gaze to the floor. "Yuhan really likes you, Hitomi. Please tell me that you knew this already."

My look must've told her otherwise. Yuhan . . . liked me? For some reason, that thought had never occurred to me in a million years. He was too much of a good friend for me to even consider going out with him. I know that a lot of girls have relationships that are so strong that they would consider each other brother and sister-- sometimes even giving each other the pet name. I've never done that, but I would consider our relationship something close to that. Though I . . .

"Are you going to say something?" 

I was shaken out of my trance by Yukari's question. "I'm sorry, you just caught me a little off guard. I wasn't expecting that. At all."

"Well, Amano said he really really likes you and I can see the special bond you two have. You've had it since you met him all those years ago."

I was just nodding at Yukari's statements like a robot, not letting them fully compute in my head. 

"What do you think you'd lose by have a romantic relationship with him?"

I thought seriously about it for a moment. "Besides a friendship? . . .Nothing."

I was saved by a doorbell ringing downstairs. 

"Well I guess we'll see what happens tonight! The ball's in your court." She laughed as she walked downstairs to open the door. A high-pitched squeal followed. "You two look so handsome!"

I sighed long and hard. She just had to complicate things. I know she thought that she was doing the right thing so technically she didn't know it kind of upset me now that I knew. Oh well. Yuhan was my good friend. Tonight was going to be fun. 

"Hitomi! Hurry up!"

I caught my own attention as I walked past the full-length mirror at the end of the hall. I glanced into the reflection I was giving one last time before leaving. I didn't even recognize myself. I looked good enough to pull off being a queen. Oh how ironic. Yuhan must've had the same train of thought as he saw me when I walked down the stairs. He couldn't tear his gaze away from me. I had to of blushed to the roots of my hair with embarrassment. He took my hand and we were led outside to start our journey downtown to the club. 

  
  


We blasted some heavy music all the way to the club just to get the impulse to start singing out of our systems. Tonight was formal, but we were all late teens, early twenties. We just had to get the urge over and done with before-hand. 

  
  


As the last song ended on it's final chord, we pulled up to the building. The guys ordered us to stay put as they got out, so we did. Yuki couldn't help but giggle. "I wonder what they're up to?"

I laughed as well, trying to ignore my reflection in the rear-view mirror. The two of them returned moments later with one hand behind their backs and the other opening the doors for us. Behind their backs were two unbelievably beautiful corsages, each matching our dresses perfectly. Something else was a surprise though. 

"A flowered wreath?" I asked. 

Amano nodded. "It's not like there are any special times like this after prom. Might as well have some fun with it, right?"

Yukari was thrilled, and I had to admit, so was I. Yuhan too my wrist and slipped the corsage on. It was white and emerald green flowered, and not to mention beautifully rich in color. Then he placed the wreath on my head and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"Shall we go in?"

I tried my hardest to hide my embarrassment as I smiled and nodded. "Mm hmm." His hand went around my waist as we started our walk. My heart was racing already. This was going to be an interesting night. 

  
  


"Come on just try it!" Yukari laughed "It's not as bad as it looks!"

"It looks to me like someone ate something, puked it back up on your plate and put some parsley on top." Yuhan mocked. "No thanks."

"It tastes a lot better than it looks, I swear!" She continued. 

Yuhan raised both eyebrows and smirked. "I'm sure it does."

I grabbed Yukari's spoon and took a bite. Well, it wasn't as bad as Yuhan had made it out to be, nor as good as Yuki made it out to be either. Amano was looking at me with a gaping jaw. "You're the second bravest person I know."

"Who's the first?" I said as I swallowed. 

"Yuki. Just cause she's eating the whole thing." he laughed. 

"How is it?" Yuhan asked. 

"You need that acquired taste to enjoy it just a little. I can see why Yuki likes it. Yuhan," I laughed, looking him in the eye. "You'd gag, I'm sure."

"Well then I thank you for saving me from that experience." He picked up his glass and held it out. "I'd like to propose a toast."

"Didn't we do one already today?" Amano asked. 

"Is two toasts in one day bad lucky?" Yukari said while picking up her glass. 

"I doubt it. Anyway, just to make this night mushy and sentimental I'll propose a very nice and formal sounding toast." He glanced over at me from the corner of his eye for a moment before continuing. "Once again this toast is to the four of us. I think that most of us already know where we're destined to be for the next few years, I know I do. This toast is to wish us all success in all aspects of our lives, and that we remain good friends forever." We touched all our glasses. "And I mean forever seriously. Not like in one of those cheesy soap operas or something." We all shared a laugh at that. 

"That was the fluffiest and most mushy toast I've ever heard." I giggled. "But it was too damn cute."

  
  
  
  


After our meal was finished the music began and we danced. There was one problem I had never taken into consideration before. I didn't know how to ballroom dance. 

"Oh shit . . ." I cursed under my breath as Yuhan led me out onto the dance floor. 

"What is it?"

"I . . . don't know what I'm doing. I can't dance like this! I've never learned how!" 

He became very amused with this fact. "Don't worry, I'll teach you. It's not as hard as it seems."

I was a little uneasy at first but decided, this is Yuhan. Yuhan . . .

  
  


I rejoiced as a slow song came on after about twenty straight minutes of ballroom dancing. I had gotten the basic idea of what I was doing, I was just having trouble with coordination. Thankfully, slow dancing doesn't take that much coordination. I didn't realize until about halfway through the song just how close we actually were. I had never been pressed up against someone so closely in my entire life. I wasn't nervous at all, surprisingly. I didn't know the name of the song we were dancing to, but whatever it was, it had a nice beat to it. I rested my head fully on his shoulder and tightened my grip on him. I felt very safe in his arms. I opened my eyes for a split second to see Yukari smile at me, then look back at Amano who spoke something softly to her. I couldn't have been bothered of thinking up a reason why she would smile like that. Oh well. Then something I definitely wasn't expecting happened. Yuhan had moved his head so that his mouth was right next to my ear and he could speak to me easily, as could I with him. 

"Hitomi, I want to ask you something."

My heart skipped quite a few beats at that particular moment. I took a breath. "Oh yeah? What's that?"

"Well, I've just been thinking lately; Our relationship together has been fun a very carefree. I fell really comfortable around you and I'm sure you feel the same, right?"

I paused. Shit. "Yes . . ."

"Okay, so would it bother you if we, you know . . . started going out?"

I giggled. "But we go out all the time! Why would you have to ask that?" Yes, Hitomi. Perfect timing for your naivete to kick into overdrive. Fantastic. 

"No, no. Not like that. I mean as a couple. Romantically."

I didn't know how in hell he was keeping his cool about all this. I guess he already knew what my answer was going to be. "Sure. I'd love to."

He hugged me closer with the widest grin on his face I'd ever seen. Just those few words made him that happy? Well if it was that simple . . . my mind laughed. The night went on almost as usual, though Yuhan was wasting no time in getting closer to me. Like I had any objections to that in the first place. We decided that the night was dying out around one in the morning so we all huddled into Amano's car and went out just to drive around town. Yukari had her arms around Amano in the front seat, and in the back, I was sitting up against Yuhan, who was running his free hand throughout my hair. I couldn't get over the fact of how safe I felt with him. Although my dress was overly poofy around the waist and bottom, I still managed to get comfortable against him. God only knows how I pulled off getting my seatbelt on. I was just resting my head on his chest and he had his arm around me. His head was resting on top of mine, and his eyes were no doubt closed as mine were. If there's one thing I can say about Yuhan- it's that he smells amazing. He refuses to tell us what he uses but damn, it smells great. 

"I don't wanna go home . . ." Yuhan whispered to me in a laughing tone. "I wanna stay like this all night."

The truth was, so did I. My plotting mind went into overdrive. "You can borrow some of my boxers and baggy T-shirts if you wanna stay the night . . ." 

He leaned his face down to mine and smiled that million dollar smile again. "Fine with me."

  
  


Yukari had fallen asleep on Amano's shoulder as we pulled up to the parking lot of my apartment building. Yuhan helped me and my mess of a dress out of Amano's car and shut the door. 

"See you tomorrow guys." he whispered, being careful as to not wake Yukari. 

"Night you two."

I failed to notice Yukari giggle as we walked away. Her whisper did reach my ears however. "Finally."

  
  


I wasted no time in taking that dress off. As beautiful as it might've been, it felt very constricting after this long night. Yuhan laughed as I breathed out a loud sigh of relief as the dress came off. "Wow, I can breathe again!" I announced. I decided to change into my baggy black doctor pants and a tight spaghetti strap shirt. My usual home-wear attire. I threw my other pair of baggy pants, a pair of boxers and a muscle shirt at Yuhan. "Sorry, but the pants might be a little short." he sighed a nodded with a slight smile. 

"I kinda figured that."

  
  


After drinking a coffee and just discussing anything that came to mind, we decided we were overly tired at around four. Yuhan didn't have to work until the next day so we were set for sleeping in. I was freezing by the time we reached my bed. "I trust you have no objections to sleeping in the same bed as me. Though I don't know about you, but I plan on sleeping tonight."

He laughed, but I missed the evil grin on his face. "I wonder if . . ." He purposely didn't finish his sentence as he grabbed me by my waist, tossed me onto my bed and began to tickle me. I wasn't expecting it at all and I was finding it hard to get some air in. 

"Y-Yuhan! S-stop i-i-i-t!" I was surprised to see that he understood and my laughing tapered off as I was able to breathe again. "That was cruel and unusual punishment and you know it!" 

Both of our laughing died out and it turned into a simple staring session. I've always loved Yuhan's eyes. They're a pretty rare color around here; they're so dark they're almost black. Sometimes when he's in a bad mood you can't even see his pupils. But right now I could see their happy glow, even in the darkness of the early morning hours. 

"You know," he started, shifting onto his side to get a better view of me. "I've thought about just doing something like this someday with you. I don't know why, it was just a random thought one day. Now that it's actually happening, I don't really know what to say." 

"Then don't." I smiled. "Just let it be." We continued just to look at each other, perhaps wondering if what was happening was real. Before I realized what was happening, his lips were on mine, kissing me delicately. At that moment, I felt something. An emotion was burning inside of me with the passionate way he was kissing me. He trailed off and placed kisses down my neck but stopped when he reached my collarbone. 

"By the way, I've always wanted to tell you that you smell really good." 

I laughed out loud at his remark. "Funny, I've always thought the same about you."

We got closer to each other, huddling for warmth. Though I had many covers on my bed, it was nice to get close to someone for once. His arms slipped around my waist and I placed my hands over his in return. He rested his head above mine and sighed. I opened up my eyes one last time before saying goodnight just to look at him. As my lids lifted I glanced across the room quickly, but my heart stopped when I saw what I did. Semi-hidden in the shadows by my door was a black-winged angel with a sword in hand. Before I had time to react, he charged right for Yuhan. I screamed. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Sitting straight up in bed as a clap of thunder broke loose, I frantically searched the room for the intruder I knew to be none other than Folken. When I sought out nothing, I realized where I was. Folken's cabin. Gaea. I immediately panicked, looking for him. He was no longer in the bed beside me. My eyes came to rest upon the open door that lead to outside. Then I saw an empty bottle of liquid resting on his night stand. I caught a small smell of it and plugged my nose instantly. It smelt of rotted roots. No . . . it couldn't have been what Folken was talking about earlier . . . Not the potion that . . . 

  
  


I grabbed my bag, drew my sword, and left the cabin immediately. There was no way in hell I was staying there. I had to get away from him. Something just wasn't right. Though I trusted Folken with most of my heart, something wasn't right. I had to get away. 

I saddled Belu once again, and in no time flat we were off through the now familiar forest. I didn't look back once, because if I had've, I knew I would've stopped. Then, I caught sight of something ahead of me. It was a person standing in the middle of the gravel roadway. A person with midnight colored wings. I recognized that figure from that far away as good as I could've from a foot away. 

"Stop, Hitomi." His voice was loud and crisp in the early morning hours. Even through the rain I could hear the change of tone in his voice, but there was no way in hell I was stopping. I pulled on Belu's reigns and we tracked off into the forest, leaving the gravel road to Folken. 

My heartbeat was erratic and my breathing was unsettled. Why was I so nervous? It wasn't as though Folken were right behind me. Just as luck would have it, I reached a clearing in the forest. I'd wait for him here. There was no way I could loose him out here; he's lived here for many years and more than likely knew the place like the palm of his hand. I dismounted Belu and led her off to graze at some grass near the tree line. walking back out a little farther, I called; 

"Folken! I know you're out there somewhere! I don't know what you want with me but now's your chance. Here I am, so come and get me!"

The forest was silent, save the sounds of the light rain and the distant rumbling of the passed storm. I tried my best to listen for him. I didn't know if he would even consider to try to use his wings in the rain, but I didn't leave it to chance. I closed my eyes and focused on him. His face, his features, his wings . . .

A scene flashed before me and I saw im flying in from behind me, over top of Belu. I turned as swiftly as I could to math his blade and just as predicted, he was no more than a foot away from striking as I blocked his blow. He grunted, no anticipating my strength and reaction, and before he knew what was happening, he was on the wet forest floor with my sword at his neck. Then I hesitated. 

"Well, what are you waiting for, Kanzaki? Kill me! You've got me right where you need me!" Folken . . . yelling for his death? Something flared up inside of me as I pressed the blade further, drawing a thin line of blood from his neck. It was easily washed away with the rain. 

"It feels good, doesn't it? To feel that hatred burning through your veins. You want to kill me, I know that's what you feel within you. You feel threatened by me, so you must kill me. It's what the potion does to you. It brings out the worst. Kanzaki, Hitomi? A killer? Who would've ever thought!" Each word he spoke was driving the blade deeper into his neck. Whether it had been centimeter by centimeter or even millimeter by millimeter, I didn't care. Something inside of me wanted to kill him so badly . . . "So why is it that you hesitate?" 

"Because unlike your mind, mine isn't being enslaved by the past!" I yelled, removing the blade from his neck and slicing at his wings. "I might not have the courage to kill you but I sure as hell have no objections to hurting you badly!" I was just chopping away at any part of his body my sword came into contact with when all of a sudden something inside me snapped. 

I took my sword that was now covered in blood, jumped onto Belu and we raced off, leaving Folken there. I knew he'd be able to get himself back to his cabin because that damage I had done to him wasn't that fatal. He's probably survived worse. What I couldn't get out of my head as I got to Fanelia was that feeling inside of me. That urge I had to kill him. That potion . . . I prayed it wouldn't have any more effects on me. 

Van was panicked when he saw me come in, soaked to the brim with a blood-stained sword in hand. 

"What on earth happened to you?!" He yelled, helping me down from Belu. "You're soaked and- oh god . . ." he had to pry the sword from the death grip I had on it. "What happened? Talk to me."

I grinned at him. walking over to the stable doors, I slid the large piece of wood to the side, locking the entrance from anyone who would want to enter from the outside. I'd be damned if I was going to let anyone ruin this perfect opportunity for me.

Taking the sword from his hands, I threw it to the ground beside him and myself, and I threw my arms around his neck. 

"Hitomi, what are you do-" I refused to give him time to finish his question before kissing him with everything I had. Nothing would ruin this moment. 

  
  
  
  


~*~

  
  
  
  


HOW DO YA LIKE THAT EH?! I'm soooooooo incredibly sorry for taking to long to get this chapter out. Lots has been happening lately. It's now 12.20 AM where I live and I still have a test to study for! I hope you all appreciate this! I don't care if there's fifty million mistakes in this chapter cause I did it all for you guys and I'm sure you're smart enough to figure out what I meant! TIRED. NEED SLEEP. MUST STUDY. 

Reviews are ALWAYS appreciated!

  
  


*Elemental Angel*


	15. Echoes Unreal

Born Of The Moon 

Chapter XV

Echoes Unreal 

  
  
  
  


Before I knew what emotions were running through me, I had Van in my arms and was kissing him. The thing was . . . I couldn't feel any resistance on his part . . .

Then a memory hit me once again. The words spoken from Anastasia's heart . . . 

  
  
  
  


i" I can't believe that you don't hate me for marrying Van. I thought you'd be resentful towards me and never speak to me. I was nervous earlier when I first met you. Now I know why Van loved you so much. He still does too. You're a wonderful person from what I can see."i

  
  
  
  


"No!" I yelled, pulling myself away from him. It wasn't just the fact of that memory smacking me; It hurt to think about it! It caused real pain. "What am I doing?!" I cried, holding my head on either side with my hands. I closed my watering eyes tightly, trying to sort out exactly what had just happened. "V-Van . . . I'm sorry! There's something wrong inside my head!" My head was swimming in a newfound pain. Wave after wave was hitting my system. It was much worse than any hangover headache I had ever had. Come to think of it, even any vision I've had. Was this some sort of aftereffect of that root smell?

  
  


The pain began to subside and I let my hands fall to the ground limply. Van seemed to be worried. 

"Hitomi . . . why did . . . you . . ." He couldn't even find it in him to finish his sentence. This man, once a killer, couldn't even finish an emotion-struck phrase. Did it surprise him that much?

"Folken did something to my emotions. It's a spell. It's still inside of me . . . and I can't make it go away until it wears off. It was this root potion, and--"

"What?! Why did you go back?! He tried to kill you, Hitomi!" His anger flared at me. 

"Because, Van! It was my choice to make and so I did!"

  
  


He paused, unsure of himself once again. I took the opportunity to ask him the one question I needed to have answered. "Van, why didn't you push me away when I did that?"

As if pathetic fallacy was against me, a clap of thunder cracked outside the stable. 

"I . . . I don't know exactly." Shame was painted all over his face. "I guess old feelings came back to me in an instant and . . . and I got too caught up in the moment."

His eyes pleaded to me for something. "Please, don't tell Anastasia. If I lost her, I don't know what I'd do. After you left, I gained her in your place and the heartache was healed somewhat. Please, Hitomi . . ." 

I was shaking my head in a confused manner. "Why are you so scared what I tell her, Van? It was my doing, not yours. Therefore, the fault is mine. If anything, I should be asking for your forgiveness. And I promise you now, a guilty conscious won't make me go running to her to spill everything." I couldn't look him in the eye for the most part when I spoke. I was embarrassed and ashamed by my actions. 

"And for that, I thank you very much." He turned his attention to the blood-covered sword. "Tell me, what happened?"

I took in a very deep breath and stared at the sword in fear. "It's Folken's blood. He tried to attack me, but because he left me alone in his cottage with the opened potion on the table across the room from me, I was affected by its fumes. As I breathed it in as I slept, my deepest, forbidden emotions were let out. I almost killed him, and I think it's very apparent what I did to you. Now I ask for your forgiveness."

His arms were crossed against his chest as he leaned up against one of the wooden beams supporting the stable. "Why wouldn't I forgive you for something as simple as that? You've saved my life countless times. I owe you more than I can probably give."

  
  


I ran up to him with a burst of new emotions and hugged him, crying once again. "Thank you, Van. I'm just so lost right now, I don't know what I'd do if you abandoned me. I think . . . I'm pretty sure I've figured out what's been going on." A shiver traveled its way up my spine. "But I think I'd rather explain it some place warmer and dryer."

"Ok, come on, I'll get you some dry . . ." He trailed off as he noticed the blood on my shirt. 

" ... and clean clothes. Then we can all talk about this."

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Van was relatively silent along the walk to the castle. I still felt responsible for his uneasiness. 

"Van, I'm sorry."

"I told you, it's okay. You don't have to worry about it." He replied in a flat-toned voice. 

  
  
  
  
  
  


Anastasia was half-shocked when she saw me. "Oh my goodness! Here, come with me. We'll get you cleaned up."

She took my hand and pulled me down the hall. I gave Van a reassuring look before we turned a corner. 

  
  
  
  


"So what happened to you? Where did you go after you left the castle?" She interrogated as she mended the wound I had received. It was about two centimeters in depth along my waist on the right side. I couldn't remember how or when it had happened. "Who were you attacked by? A pack of thugs looking for some money?"

"Not even close. It was . . . Folken Fanel." 

Her dabbing on my wound stopped. "F-Folken? Van's older brother? Folken Lacour?"

I slowly nodded. I knew it must've hurt her to hear. Her mending continued once again moments later. "I find that impossible to believe. It pains me to say this, but what would your motives be for . . . lying . . . about this particular situation?" Her voice trailed off. "If any."

"Motives?" I asked in a solemn voice. "The only reason I could see myself lying in this situation would be so that Van could have some kind of peace knowing that Folken got what he deserved for hurting him, but that would involve more pain in the present on Van's part." 

"It would." She sighed heavily. "I'm sorry for even asking."

"Don't worry about it."

I held up my arms as she secured a bandage around my waist. "There. It should be healed in about two weeks at the most, I'd imagine."

I lowered my arms and picked up my new, clean shirt. I readjusted my bra with my back to Anastasia and pulled the cotton shirt over my head. It provided instant heat and I was glad for it. I crossed my arms and sat down in a cushioned chair behind me. I kept my gaze averted without realizing it. Keeping this secret to myself was harder than I thought. I just had to quit thinking about it. 

"Is there something on your mind, Hitomi? Feel free to talk." Anastasia spoke from across the room as she was putting away the items she had used on my wound. 

"Oh no, not really. I've just been thinking about things that have been going on lately. Just how they've affected me and my decisions. I'm just wondering what good will come out of any of this."

"Oh." She seemed to agree with my statement by the tone of her voice. Then there was a light knock at the door. 

"Can I come in?" A sweet young woman's voice asked. 

"Yes Merle, you may." 

The cat woman waltzed in with a sad expression on her face. "Lord Van has told me what's been going on. He said he will be joining us in a few moments. How are you feeling, Hitomi?"

I kept my gaze set on the floor. "Better than before." 

Van entered the room as silent as the air. I hadn't sensed his presence and he scared me as his hands came down on my shoulders. 

"How are you feeling?"

I looked up behind myself to meet his gaze. His eyes spoke his worry to me. "A lot better than before."

"Are you ready to explain to us what's going on?" Merle asked. "From what Van has told me, it sounds complicated."

"Yeah . . ." Van took a seat beside Anastasia and I suddenly had everyone's attention. "Well . . . I don't quite know where to start, actually . . ."

"Could you start off from when you arrived here? Who brought you?" Anastasia asked.

"Folken summoned me through a dream and a vision. He said if I wished to return to Gaea, to be at the track field the night of the next full moon. One of my good friends came with me to see me off. He was the one person who believed my story and just seeing the column of light inspired that belief farther. I really miss him . . ." I glanced up from my staring space on the floor to see everyone with a raised eyebrow in my direction. I straightened up, blushing furiously. "I'm sorry, I went off topic! Anyways, Folken . . . I don't really know how to explain this . . ."

"Please, try." Van coaxed. 

"Well . . . on earth there's this disease called Multiple personality syndrome. It's basically when a person has a bunch of personalities stuck inside their head." I could tell my explanation wasn't getting through to them judging by the lost looks on all of their faces. "Okay, I'll use Folken as an example. For the first fifteen years of his life he was known as the king to be- Folken Lacour De Fanel. After his inauguration failed, he took on his alter-ego, Strategos Folken. Make sense?" 

They all proceeded to nod this time. I sighed in thanks. "There's one thing in this situation that doesn't seem to add up, however. It seems as though no matter which personality is in control, the other remembers what happened while the alternate was in control. That's usually never the case, but if it is, usually only one remembers what the other did. This is just getting 

confusing . . ." I rested my head in one hand and sighed heavily. "I don't know what else to tell you."

Anastasia took a seat beside me and placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "You've given us a considerable amount of knowledge tonight, Hitomi. I think we're all grateful for that."

Van agreed with her. "It's obvious that the medical research if well advanced compared to what it's reached here on Gaea."

"It's not as great as you think. There's so many illnesses we have yet to find cures for . . ."

Merle took on the task of breaking the thick atmosphere. "In any case, Hitomi, you look like you're about to pass out. I think we should leave you to rest. The three of us need our sleep as well. I think we'll need to for whatever's to come tomorrow."

  
  
  
  
  
  


The bed in my room was the comfiest I had ever been in. It felt like I was in a large box filled with hundreds and hundreds of feathers. I had slept peacefully for a good portion of the night. Unfortunately, Yuhan didn't come to visit me in my dreams, nor could I find it in myself to reach him. It upset me somewhat, but I guessed that my mind needed the rest. 

  
  


I couldn't remember what, but something had caused me to open my eyes. I didn't have a bad dream, I hadn't heard anything and I hadn't sensed anything. Nothing seemed to be moving around me in my room. As I sat up, I felt a presence attempting to speak with me. It was overwhelming. 

"Yuhan . . . ?" 

i"Come to me . . . "i His voice echoed through my mind. 

"Where are you?" I whispered back. 

i"Follow my voice. You will see . . . "i

  
  


I didn't question him for a single moment. I needed to talk to him. I needed someone beyond my friends here to speak to right now. 

  
  
  
  
  
  


~*~

  
  
  
  


AIE sorry for taking a freakin eternity with this chapter. Here it is in all its glory! I'll more than likely be posting another as well! This story is about two chapters from being finished! I'm possibly hoping to break the 200 reviews record with this story so come on! Please keep them flowing! Good Night!!

  
  


*Elemental Angel*


	16. Ironic Regrets

Born Of The Moon 

Chapter XVI

Ironic Regrets

  
  
  
  
  
  


I made sure that no one noticed me leave the castle once again. I took Belu out from the stables but didn't bother to saddle her. He was calling out to me. He wished to see me. His voice was sweet with love, and that tone only made me more anxious to see him. 

  
  


Belu and I made our way through the forest in a slow trot so that I could find the direction in which his voice was speaking to me from. It didn't take me long to reach a lake I recognized. It was the same one I had seen in a vision during my previous visit on Gaea. It was the same lake in which Varie and Goau had met so many years ago. Sitting by the waters edge was a dark figure. I could only recognize it to be Yuhan. Joy took a tight hold on me. I dismounted Belu quickly but slowly began to walk towards him. I couldn't believe he was just sitting there so innocently, waiting for me to arrive.

I was no more than a meter away from his still shaded figure when his voice called out to me silently.

  
  


'Watch out, Hitomi.'

  
  


I stopped dead in mid-pace. His voice was overwhelmingly loud inside my head. Unlike how it was moments before, soft and taunting. 

"I see you've finally come to visit me, Hitomi." A low-toned voice growled. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end. The shadowed figure was Folken. "I see you're just as naive as I had predicted. Did you seriously think that your precious Yuhan would actually be on Gaea?" He spoke as he stood up from the ground, his black clothes making him almost invisible in the darkness of this night.

"You . . . you . . ." I couldn't even find the words to form a phrase I was so enraged. I began to slowly back away from him, but he followed my every step. 

"What's the matter, Kanzaki? Too afraid to speak? Well, I think I'll change that." He swiftly grabbed a wrapped up ball from his pocket. "Catch." He said as he whipped it in my direction. I had barely any time to react and the ball hit me straight in the face. It exploded and released a bunch of sparkling powder. As in inhaled it, I felt it burn my throat as it made its way down to my lungs. Not another cheap magic trick!

"Dammit, Folken! Why are you doing this?!" I yelled hoarsely as I held my throat. It felt as though this powder was burning straight through my pharynx. The feeling was close to unbearable. My head was pulsing with pain as only small amount of oxygen seemed to be getting into my lungs. 

  
  


Suddenly, it all stopped at once. The pain was gone and I could breathe again. My eyes met Folken's. He was now standing no more than a foot away from me, grinning. 

"Tell me, how do you feel?" He asked, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. I glared back at him. 

"You had no right to impersonate him! You had no right! How could you do such a thing?!"

"Because," he crossed his arms, revealing the empty sword scabbard at his side. "It was the only way to get you out here."

"Yet you are unarmed." I pointed out. Something began drilling away at the back of my mind. Before I knew what I was doing, I had my sword drawn and pointed straight at his face. "Why did you come unarmed? If this potion is doing what the roots did to me, you should've known better."

Hate was running through me once again. I had that urge to kill once more. The same hatred I had felt earlier was coursing through my system once more.

His arms fell to his sides and I saw his right hand slowly reaching behind his back as he spoke again. "I didn't say it gave you more strength. Do you seriously think that you can out-power me?!" A dagger was pulled quickly from his waist belt but I was quick to react, slashing it from his hand and out into the lake. A large gash would've been bleeding from his hand if it hadn't of been his mechanical one. There wasn't even a scratch on it. In his momentary confusion, I was able to pin him down to the ground with my sword across his neck. 

"It might not have given me power, but I can react a lot more faster now. You seem to set yourself up for these things too easily." It was true. This all just seemed to easy. 

  
  


My mind started to regain a bit of force against his powder and my erratic heartbeat began to slow down. I was losing my adrenaline. I was also hesitating. 

"You know you have the power over matter right now. I'm unarmed and at your mercy, as I was before. Why do you hesitate once again?"

Though my eyes were now heavily blurred by tears from the pain in my throat that had just returned, I could see the haze over his eyes. The swords' tip was now suspended directly over his heart; it was barely grazing his shirt as my hands shook on the hilt. This sword had already been stained with his blood too many times. I didn't know if I could do it again. It would be so simply just to kill him right here and now, but like he said, I was hesitating. And why? Because I was looking at the whole picture. This wasn't the only side of Folken Fanel. He was also a sweet and gentle soul with lots of compassion and trust. True, that he was once a military strategist, but that was many years past forgotten. Maybe this was a sign. Maybe his willingness to let me outwit him was a sign. A sign from the real Folken Fanel inside him. Did he want me to kill him?

"You bore me." He whispered. I didn't have time to react this time before my legs were slashed with a newfound dagger and I was now on the forest floor with its sharp blade at my neck. "Now you've lost your only chance. Why do you refuse to answer my question?" He slowly began to squeeze my wrist so that my death grip on my sword would loosen. I refused to give in until I could hear some of the bones inside my arm grinding. I screamed and let go finally. "Why did you hesitate?"

I was at a loss of words again. Perfect timing as usual. 

"You know, I don't have all day to wait for an answer. It wouldn't bother me the slightest if I killed you right this second. So speak, or you die."

"Because . . ." I somehow managed to squeak out. "This isn't you. This isn't Folken Fanel." 

He sighed. "I'll tell you what I told Van. Folken Fanel is no more. He died the day the land dragon bit off his arm. From that moment on, he was no more. Strategos Folken was his true identity and only was that revealed when he was brought to the Vione. He . . . I was taught the proper way to live. It's as simple as that." His smirk was as sly as ever. "So I'm sorry to disappoint you, Kanzaki Hitomi, but with this dagger at your throat, your death tonight has now been assured." He removed the dagger from my neck and placed it above my heart. "Any last words?" he grinned. 

My gasp shook him a little, but it quickly passed. "Just a regret." I whispered. I wasn't even sure if he had heard me as my eyes burned with fresh tears. "One regret."

"Yes such a pity I would guess. Good-bye, Mystic Moon bitch." He raised the dagger above his head and it began its decent towards my chest. I closed my eyes tightly and tensed, waiting for the moment of impact. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


It never came. I slowly opened my eyes to assess the situation. The dagger was still above his head, but a sword protruded his chest directly through his heart. I stifled a gasp as his hands went limp, dropping the knife. It fell right at my face, creating a cut in the same manner on my left cheek-- the exact same way and shape as the cut I had been given on my right cheek. He fell beside me, but not before he could whisper some last few words.

"Ironic, isn't it . . ." His last breath spoke those three words that now formed a sentence I'd never forget for the rest of my life. I let out a shriek after he finished. That voice was Folken Fanel's. 

Standing in front if me now was a man with his head hung low in shame, his eyes scattering tears to the forest floor. Those burnt auburn eyes held too much pain for their age. Too young for a king. 

"Van . . . I'm sorry . . ."

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


~*~

  
  


Well now wasn't that interesting . . . only one chapter to go people. Come on, review effort please. There's only one chapter after this one and it's gonna be long. Happy Holidays to you all as well. Enjoy the break as I will!

  
  


~*Elemental Angel*~


	17. Final Chapter

Born Of The Moon 

Chapter XVII

Final Chapter

  
  
  
  


I couldn't bear to watch either Van or Anastasia as I explained in full what had happed. It only seemed possible that Folken suffered from multiple personality disorder. One of the two was Folken Lacour De Fanel, a gentle, caring man who had failed during his inauguration to become king. The other was born from that failure, Strategos Folken. A cold, emotionless man who was still seeking and longing to slay the girl from the Mystic Moon, the destroyer of his empire. Merle was almost in tears, as was Anastasia. Van had a blank look on his face. 

"I'm . . . I'm so incredibly sorry . . . that it had to come down to what it did, Van. I'll never forgive myself for knowing that you had to do that. I shouldn't have hesitated."

He didn't respond to that, but Anastasia out her hand over mine. "We understand that you did what you had to do, right Van?" he nodded. "So . . ." she said as the conversation trailed into nothing. "Does any of this mean that you'll be leaving us soon?"

Immediately as she said that, Yuhan's smiling face flashed through my mind. "Yes . . . I suppose it does. But I don't think that I'll be leaving Van with a broken heart this time. Not now that he's got such a wonderful person here with him." 

I got up and stood before Van, who was still sitting with his head down. Tears again filled my eyes. It pained me to see him like this. "Van . . . I'm sorry . . ."

"Hitomi! Stop it! Stop apologizing! I've done worse you know? I've killed mass amounts of men in a single shot, this isn't as bad as you think!"

I stood there for a moment, completely shocked. Then anger retaliated. "This isn't as bad as I think? Not as bad?! Van, you just killed your own brother! I think that's a little worse than what could've happened!"

"If he had've killed you, I would've killed him just for that without a second thought! So you know, there was more sense in what I did when I did it as apposed to you apologizing over and over again. And don't think that--" His little speech was cut short as a hand came into contact with his cheek. I could only stare at Merle with astonishment. She grabbed us both by the collars of our shirts and spoke in a nerved tone. 

"You two have no reason to be yelling at each other after what just happened. Grow up!!" With that, Merle left the room in a huff with Anastasia following her. 

I sighed. "She's right." 

"I know. But it sure felt good just to let it all out, didn't it?" He laughed slightly. 

"Yeah, it did."

We took a moment of silence before we could find some words again. 

"Van?" I whispered. 

"Yeah?"

"We've been through a lot. Thanks for being there for me." These words were coming from as deep in my heart as they could. "Remember how earlier you said that you owed me many things for all my savings in the Destiny War?"

He smiled. "Yes."

"Consider us more than even now."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


The bed was comfy . . . the temperature was fine . . . there wasn't any overly loud noises . . . I was dead tired . . . yet on the windowsill I sat. 

"Can't sleep?" a sweet voice asked from across my room. The door was opened a crack and in the space was Anastasia. 

"No, not a blink. Look Anastasia, I wanted--"

"Please, just Ann will do." she insisted. 

"Alright. Ann, I wanted to tell you how sorry I am for creating such a ruckus upon my return. It just seems that when I come here, nothing good comes of it." I let my head rest against my knees. "And I somehow always manage to hurt Van. Last time, he lost his mentor and his entire city. This time he loses his only brother who he had just reclaimed. My reasons for coming back were selfish. I should've just stayed where I was. Disagree anytime." 

She didn't object to what I had said, but her face held an emotionless look on it. "You did what you thought was right at the time. Just because fate didn't deal your cards the way you had hoped for doesn't mean what you did was all in vain. Maybe your purpose for coming back was for us to see that Folken was becoming unstable and was about to let loose. There's nothing you could've done otherwise. Am I right?"

I nodded quietly. "I guess so. I just wish things could've happened differently. I wish that Van didn't have to do what he did."

"I think we all do, but what has been done has been done. What's in the past should be put to rest, don't you think?"  
  


I finally let my eyes meet hers, and what I saw inside of them shook me momentarily. I saw in their deep sapphire pools . . . a hint of emerald. The same shade as my grandmothers eyes. Her wisdom was somehow shining through Anastasia. 

"Yes. I agree completely with that."

"Good." She smiled, standing up and walking over to me. "Van asked me to give this to you incase you left without him seeing you." She extended her arm out with her hand clasped shut with something inside of her palm. I reached out my hand to accept her gift. A gold chain and stone clinked as they fell into my hand, my heat instantly warming them both. 

"But . . . I don't understand . . . I gave this to Van for him to keep. Why would he want to give it back?"

"I guess he'll have to answer that for you because I don't know." She embraced me suddenly, catching me a little off guard. "It's been so nice meeting you, Hitomi. I hope I can still speak with you somehow after you leave Gaea. It's almost like having a sister around here with you. Though we barely know each other!" She laughed in a sweet-toned voice. "I'm so very glad I got to meet you, but I'm almost certain you are homesick and restless to get back, am I wrong?"

I took a moment to think. "No. You are most certainly right. I'd like to talk to Van before I leave. Do you know where he is?"

She shook her head. "After he told me to give this to you, he took off into the forest. He refused to tell me where."

"Oh." I looked down at the pendant that was resting in my palm. I clenched my fist. "It's alright. I'll find him."  
  
  
  
  
  


After I had grabbed the few of my belongings I still had, I decided to leave my sword next to Van's, which I found resting in his study. Anastasia had brought me there to give me one last thing. She told me she wasn't sure if Van would notice the certain book's absence, but if she had to she'd explain herself. It was a journal Van had kept during the times of the Destiny War and thereafter. 

"I don't see any reason why he wouldn't let you read it in the first place and he hasn't written in it since your return, so . . ."  
  


I rummaged through my duffel bag after Anastasia said her final goodbye to me. I knew I had brought it with me for a cause, but I was unsure as to what that cause was; I knew now. Leaving in the place of Van's black journal, I rested my navy journal with a silver feather on the cover.   
  
  
  
  
  


Though my walk through the forest behind the great castle of Fanelia was a long one, I enjoyed it. Hearing all of the exotic wildlife thriving gave me some newfound energy. It also made me realize how materialistic people can be. Gaea doesn't have half as many luxuries as the Mystic Moon does and yet the people here still have the ability to be happy and joyous. And as always, at the same time vicious and cold-hearted. 

If a person could be so shallow as to grieve after losing something materialistic, the harsh reality of Gaea would not be suiting for them. To lose a family member- your last family member in existence- is too painful to even want to think about. Losing anything materialistic afterwards seems like nothing but a scratch. An object can be replaced. It goes differently for a human being.   
  


And to know that it couldn't be avoided and that you would have to be the one who caused their heart to bleed . . . to cause their hot blood to seep into each individual blade of grass beneath them . . . Shallow indeed.   
  
  
  


"I knew you would find me eventually. I'm glad you thought to look for me here."

Even thought I heard his voice before I could see him, it didn't surprise me much. I knew I was close because I could vaguely sense his presence. 

"When Anastasia told me you had gone into the forest without telling her where, I could only guess you had come here." The dull glow from him ivory wings led me to him. "How are you feeling?"

"Restless. It will pass. But other than that, just fine. How about yourself?"

I bowed my head. "Just homesick, if anything."

Van was seated on the stone stairs that touched the base of his fathers enormous tombstone. His wings were stretched out, his arms crossed at the wrists as they rested on his knees, and his eyes were closed. 

"Van," I walked through the wire fence and sat down beside him. The two moons in the night sky shone down upon us, casting an eerie glow. I held up the pink pendant and the stone caught some of the pale light. "Why did you ask Anastasia to give this back to me?"  
  


He opened his eyes to me. "It only seemed fitting in my mind that you gave this to me because you loved me. Because this stone is a strong symbol of your love, I just figured that you would like to give it to the man you spoke about earlier. He seems to hold a more special place in your heart than I originally thought. I also assumed you'd want it because it's your key to getting back home to the Mystic Moon. Incase you didn't find me."

I smiled and laughed quietly. "Thanks for your concern. I appreciate it."  
  


We spent some time in silence after my thanks. It wasn't an awkward silence, anything but. In my mind, it was mostly because I knew this would probably be the last time I'd see Van in the flesh. No words were fitting to exactly what I was feeling now. Well, maybe a few. 

"I'm going to miss you, Van. I'll always miss you, but I'll never break the promise I made to you before I left last time. I'll never forget you."

I could feel heat rising in my palm and I noticed the pendant had begun to glow. He looked at the stone sadly, and rose to stand with me. Embracing me, I felt his wings surround me in their feathery softness. I wrapped my arms around his neck and clung on tightly. I didn't want to think of this as our last real hug. Then, the all-too familiar column of pale light engulfed us both. 

"I'll never forget you either, Hitomi. I'll visit you in your dream world as much as I can." he whispered. 

"As will I."  
  


I could feel myself becoming lighter and lighter and soon, my feet were being lifted from the ground. I tried not to let my grip around Van's neck loosen, and it seemed as though he had no intentions of letting go of my waist either seeing as he used his wings to keep with my rising pace. Taking the stronger initiative, I let my hands fall loosely around his neck. He took the hint and allowed his hands to relax around my waist. Looking into his eyes, I let out a small whimper and let my hands fall to his shoulders. "I won't forget."

As the light carried me higher, our hands were relieved from each others shoulders, to our elbows, then to our wrists, then finally our finger tips. 

"Goodbye, Hitomi." He spoke softly as some tears fell from my eyes, landing gently on his cheeks. 

"Sayonara, Van." I smiled.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


As the warmth of the blue light left me, I found myself standing on the compressed dirt of the track field. The pendant was still hot in my hand but a cold breeze passed by and cooled it. It was long past dusk and the stars speckled the night sky, dazzling like billions of diamonds against black velvet. After my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I looked over the field to the rafters. There I saw a form sitting with their head in their hands. "Yuhan . . ." I whispered. 

My shoes were silent in the grass as I made my way over to him. He didn't even seem to hear as I dropped my bag beside myself and knelt in front of him. "Yuhan?" I asked as I placed my hands on his knees. His head shot up with eyes unbelieving. 

"It's . . . it's you . . . I don't believe it . . ." His hands were shaking as he cupped my face. "Are you really here . . . sitting right here with me?" His voice was so pained. It made me feel terrible. 

"Yes . . . I'm here . . ." 

I embraced him fiercely. I've given strong hugs before, but this one was too emotion struck for words. Not just on my part either. "Why were you so unbelieving?" I asked through sobs. 

"It just seems like so long since you've left . . ." His hands were running through my hair over and over as out emotions ran higher. "You've been gone for close to two months. Yukari and Amano are leaving in two weeks for America. Your parents hate me . . ."

"Please," I said to stop him. "Don't tell me about the bad things. I just want to make sure as much as you do that we're really here together."

"We are."  
  
  
  
  
  


I don't remember how long we sat on the rafters hugging each other. Time seemed to stand still. 

We finally pulled away from our death-grip hug and I placed the pendant in his hand. 

"What's this?" He asked as he held it up. 

"It's a present I'd like you to have. The first man to hold me heart had it until he realized my heart belonged to another. He decided I should give it to that man."

Though his eyes had been solely fixed on the pendant, as I finished my sentence they slowly raised to mine. 

"The man that holds your heart?"

My shoulders fell and my eyes closed. "I'm sorry it took distant separation for me to realize it."

I looked over his shoulder to see the track field once again. This time it didn't hurt me emotionally to glance over it. 

"Come on." He said, handing me a ticket. "Let's go home."  
  
  
  
  
  


If there was one thing I missed on Gaea, it was the food from the sushi bar. I was far past tired but my hunger outweighed the fatigue by the time we got back to Sendai. Yuhan spent the time in which I ate to tell me about what had been going on. 

"So," I said as I drank my coffee after conversation had tapered off. "Why haven't you asked me about what happened on Gaea yet?"

My question seemed to catch him a little off guard, but the look on his face told me he already had an answer. "Because I already know what happened. I saw practically everything in my dreams at night. I wasn't sure if I could believe them but now that I've seen how quiet you've been . . . Would you consider this experience on Gaea more hurtful than the last?"  
  


I paused. Then I paused some more. "N-no! Well . . . when I was there I was most certain it was worse, but after taking the time to really think about it, the first time was worse. What, with all the war . . . the pain was more scattered before. It didn't just hurt a few select people. It attacked everyone with a force."  
  


I looked outside the window to my right. Seeing cars drive by and not men riding gallantly on horses was no big shock, but I was unused to seeing it. Even a week and a few days on Gaea forces you to change your everyday expectations. From where I sat in the restaurant, I could see one of the windows to my apartment. Yuhan smiled at me and took my hand, leading me outside.   
  
  
  
  
  


Literally collapsing into my own bed was the greatest feeling I'd had in a while. Just the touch of something so familiar, never mind Yuhan running his hands up and down my bare sides, was heart-sooting. 

"Yuhan?" I asked, turning myself around to face him. The covers glided over my bare skin and ruffled around us as I moved, letting my shoulder to become exposed to the cold air outside of the blankets. "I've wanted to tell you something all night, but I've been trying to find the best words for it. Unfortunately nothing better than what I first thought of is coming to mind." I began to trace around the pendant on his chest. This resulted in a large grin being plastered on his face. 

"Well, just say what you feel then."

"I think it was just made more than obvious what I feel, baka." I laughed. Taking in a deep breath and snuggling up against him, I kept the pendant around his neck clutched tightly in my palm. 

"I . . . I just . . ." He kissed me lightly in and around the nape of my neck for a few moments. "Wanted to thank you." I finally finished. 

"For what?"

"Just for . . . well . . ." I laughed into his chest. "I don't know exactly. I guess just for putting up with me for however long you did. I don't know how long you liked me before I was informed- I'm not about to ask. I suppose I just want to thank you for waiting. I just wish it hadn't of taken such an extremity on more than one occasion for me to realize it."

His hands came over the pendant along with mine. "You wish for too much for yourself. You say your friends have been able to move on from this, so you should be able to do the same as well."

"But it was my fault in the first place. Try to understand." 

"No, Hitomi. I think it's you that doesn't understand. You think you control the fate of one world when you are only one person. The fate of a world isn't controlled by the sentiments of one person. It's a combination of what others did in that process as well. You didn't make the choices for Folken, he made them himself, therefore sealing his fate. Nothing that happened was your fault entirely."

Finally. "So you admit some was my doing?"

His eyes fell at me. "You needed to go back. You finished what you left undone. What happened now would've more than likely happened back then, right?"

I thought for a moment. "Possibly . . . but . . ."

"Hitomi, you worry too much. Sleep now, You deserve a peaceful sleep knowing now that you're safe here."

I laughed again. "With you, I suppose?"

He returned my laugh quietly. "Yes. I'll protect you from everything there is that could hurt you in this world. And any others. I vow to protect you from this day forth."

I raised an eyebrow. "Yuhan, I'm not a child. I can protect myself if you haven't noticed. Oh, and you know what?"

"Yes?"

"You talk too much. Go to sleep. You deserve it as much as I do."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Maybe what Yuhan said was true. That one person can't control the fate of one world, even if such had been stated in prophesies of the past. It's a combination of the wills of all people. Even if one person has immense control over that power and can manipulate it to their liking, people still have their own power to lie and deceive. There will always be those who are rebellious and those who will go against their leaders. If the fate of one world could be given to just one single person, I don't know why it would've been chosen to be given to me, of all people. Now I could just take heart in the fact that all of the issues I had left on Gaea a couple of long years ago had finally been resolved. Van was now happy and we both understand that even though we still love each other, we have developed stronger loves for a specific other on our separate planets. Even though we may never see each other again, we can still be glad knowing that we will always be far yet so very near in our hearts ~*~  
  
  
  
  
  


~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
  
  


Guys I'm so sorry this took so long. I've been having a never-ending battle with fanfiction.net. It hasn't been working for a long time. I've had this chapter done for quite a while and I've been trying my best to post it. I'm sorry for making you all wait so long. I'm debating now whether or not to write a sequel acting as a prequel. Basically, it'll be two parts long, the first will be of Anastasia reflecting on the time in which she met Van, and the same for Hitomi and Yuhan. Just a note now, I don't see a suitable plot for a sequel that will be continuing this story but if anyone has an idea, feel free to e-mail me. 

Once again, I'm sorry for making you all wait so long, I hope it was worth it and that everyone is satisfied with the ending to this story. *sniff* cause this is it. There is no more. I appreciate anyone who takes the time to review. Good bye for now and until I begin to write my next story.   
  


~*Elemental Angel*~  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


*sniff* THAT'S ALL. There's no more. Trust me, I checked. Well, I hope you all enjoyed my little story and since I'd had a prequel in mind, tab all your interests in a review please. Don't forget to state your utmost feelings, comments and opinions on this story in there as well please.   
  


Also regarding the prequel, all I've got in mind presently is wavering between how Van and Anastasia met and everything surrounding that, the same with Hitomi and Yuhan. Your ideas could influence more!   
  


A BIG HUGELY GINORMOUS *lol* Thank You goes out to all who reviewed this story. *sniff* Such an inspiration.   
  


Happy New Year all.  
  


~*Elemental Angel*~


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